In Time
by Artemis Day
Summary: DISCONTINUED.
1. Shouting Matches

**A/N: Okay, this story is my response to reptilia28's challenge:**

**Harry is killed at 17 during a fight with Voldemort. He's sent to his Death's office (explained later) and finds out that this isn't the first time that this has happened.**

**Harry's Death (who can have a human name) is mad at his arrival. Apparently, people dying before their time is a black mark on the various Deaths' records, and Harry is getting perilously close to getting this particular one fired.**

**When Harry asks what was supposed to have happened, Death goes off on a rant saying how he was supposed to have killed Voldemort, found his soul mate ("Some Granger girl...") and lived to be a centennial age. But since Harry keeps getting into life-threatening situations for one reason or another, he keeps dying before that happens. Harry is surprised about the soul mate part.**

**Death gives Harry a paper to sign that allows him to retain his memories (the previous times, he wasn't given this option for some reason). Harry is deposited to a previous time of the writer's choosing.**

**Eventually, Harry gets it right. He kills Voldemort, gets the girl, and lives to a ripe old age of whatever. And Death doesn't get fired.**

**So anyway, I hope you enjoy this, this is the first chapter (I promise it will get better) and don't forget to review!**

* * *

Harry Potter's head was throbbing. Everything seemed to be spinning. He tried to remember where he was, but it was all a blur. He opened his eyes but then quickly shut them again to block out the bright light shining in his face. He could feel a rough material under him that felt like some kind of rug. Slowly, he opened his eyes again to find the light was gone and was replaced by a painted gray ceiling.

Harry sat up, ignoring the pain in his back and looked around. It looked like he was in a waiting room, but it was definitely more dreary than any waiting room he'd been in. Not only was the ceiling gray, but the walls, rug, and even the pictures on the wall were a sad shade of gray. The atmosphere of the room was very depressing, Harry could see two people sitting in chairs at the other side of the room. Both looked very bored and unresponsive. Harry figured it would be useless to question as to were he was.

Harry got to his feet and was about to try and find an exit when a stern voice appeared behind him.

"Name please?"

Harry whirled around to see a fifty-something woman sitting behind a large desk (which was also gray.) She had dark red hair done up in a perm and hazel-colored eyes behind thick, horn-rimmed glasses. Her skin had some wrinkles but not enough for her to look too old. The name plaque in front of her simply read GINA. "Name please?" she said again a little more firmly this time.

"H-Harry Potter" Harry said nervously. Where was he?

Gina wrote something down on a piece of paper and then picked up the receiver on the phone next to her. She pressed down a few numbers and then began drumming her fingers on the desk while she waited for the person on the other end line to pick up. All the while Harry was trying figure out what was going on, and he was starting to become anxious.

"Hello Max?" Gina said into the receiver "You have another client who just came in…I know you're on your break but you're needed here now…Harry Potter…" at this point she pulled the receiver away from her ear and Harry could hear a male voice shouting on the other end. "Max…M-Max, MAX, CALM DOWN!" She shouted into the receiver so loud it made Harry's ears hurt. "Look Max, I understand how you feel but you need to come down here and deal with this okay? Good, see you in a few minutes." She put the phone down and turned back to Harry.

"Sorry about that, your grim reaper will be with you shortly, in the meantime please take a seat." She said in a business-like tone.

It took a moment for Harry to fully process what the woman has said, and when he had, a horrible fear arose in his stomach, did she say 'grim reaper'? Did that mean he was dead?

"Take a seat please" The woman reiterated, sounding more annoyed with each word.

Harry slowly backed into a chair and put his hand to his head. He tried to remember what had happened to him but everything was a blur. But then, after a moment, it all came back to him, and now he felt sick.

He had been in the great hall for the Halloween feast when Voldemort and his death eaters attacked. He remembered watching as Bellatrix Lestrange killed Neville Longbottom as he attempt to avenge his parents. He saw as one by one, the teachers all fell. Ron and Hermione and had been dueling about five death eaters on their own, Luna Lovegood was throwing spell after spell at the death eater opposing her. Ginny was nowhere to be found. Harry recalled taking out five death eaters before hearing Hermione's voice screaming his name and some strange force slamming into his back, then nothing. The next he knew he was here, had he really been killed in the battle, and if he had, what would become of the wizarding world now that he was gone? Now Voldemort would win for sure.

Harry was driven from his thoughts by the sound of voices coming from down a seemingly endless hallway. Suddenly, two men wheeling a huge cart appeared in the waiting room. Both men looked to be in their early twenties. One was tall and lanky and the other was shorter and slightly chubby. The tall one was laughing at something the chubby one had said. Then the tall one noticed Harry watching them and grinned.

"Hey Harry! Long time no see" He said as if Harry was an old friend of his. Harry of course had never seen the man before and his confusion must have shown because then the tall man's grin faded "Why are you looking at me like that?"

The short one rolled his eyes "It's because he doesn't remember you stupid"

"Oh yeah" The tall one said, "I forgot about that."

"Excuse me" Harry said to them, "Exactly where am I?"

The tall one laughed a little "Your in death's office again, Duh!"

"Death's offi- wait, did you say 'again'?"

"Ted you idiot!" The short one shouted while smacking the tall one in the face. "You're not supposed to tell him that"

"Sorry Bill" Ted said.

Just then, another man appeared out of nowhere just as Bill and Ted had. This man however had a more business-y look to him. He was very tall and thin and wore a suit complete with a checkered tie. He had black hair and a clean shaven face. His eyes were bluish-gray in color and were currently filled with anger. He looked at Harry for a moment without saying anything. Then finally, he broke the silence. "Follow me please" he said and turned around.

Harry got up out of his seat and watched him walk down the endless hallway. He looked back at Bill and Ted who simply gave him looks of pity which made Harry very nervous.

"Are you coming?!?!" The man in the suit called from down the hall.

"Yeah, I'm coming" Harry yelled back and hurried down the hall after him.

They walked for what seemed like miles, the hallway really was endless. Finally, they reached a door with a name plaque on it which read "MAXIMILLION CALDWELL-G.P." The man (whom Harry figured was the Max guy Gina had spoken to over the phone) opened the door to let Harry in.

Harry entered the small office and sat down in the chair in front of the big desk that obviously belonged to Max. Max took a seat in the big chair at the other side of the desk and looked Harry in the eye. "So…" he began "…would you care to tell why you keep doing this?"

Harry didn't answer him. 'Doing what?' he wondered.

"Do you enjoy making my job difficult? Do you hate me?" Max asked, his voice steadily rising. "Or do you just get an adrenaline rush from dying, is that it?"

"What are you talking about?" Harry cried, becoming agitated. This however just served to fuel Max's anger.

"WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT? THIS IS THE FIFTH TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED! I KNOW YOU DON'T REMEMBER IT BUT UNFORTUNATELY, I DO! IT WAS BAD ENOUGH WHEN THAT RIDDLE GUY'S SPIRIT JUST HAD TO MOVE THROUGH YOUR BODY AND STOP YOUR HEART WHEN YOU WERE ELEVEN, BUT THEN YOU HAD TO FALL OF THAT BROOM AT THIRTEEN, AND LET'S NOT FORGET THAT WHOLE INCIDENT WITH THE MERMAIDS AND THEN THAT LITTLE DEATH EATER THING ONLY A YEAR LATER! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH TROUBLE I'M IN BECAUSE OF YOU? HUH, DO YOU?"

By time Max had finished his little rant, Harry was thoroughly freaked out. But Max wasn't done.

"THANKS TO YOU I'M THIS CLOSE TO BEING FIRED! EVERYTIME YOU DIE IT'S ANOTHER BLACK MARK ON MY RECORD AND I CAN'T AFFORD TO GET ANOTHER ONE JUST BECAUSE HARRY POTTER HAS TO GET HIMSELF INTO LIFE THREATENING SITUATIONS!"

"YOU THINK I LIKE IT?" Harry shouted getting up on his feet, now it was his turn to do some shouting. "IF I COULD STOP I WOULD BUT IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED I HAVE AN EVIL WIZARD AFTER THAT I'M PROPHECISED TO DESTROY SO I CAN'T HELP GETTING INTO THESE SITUATIONS!"

"Alright, alright now I think that we both need to calm down here" Max said standing up as well. "Look, I'm sorry I yelled but this whole dying before your time thing has just got to stop."

"You're telling me this has happened before? But then why don't I remember it" Harry asked.

"Because it's in the rules. See Harry, there are a lot of grim reapers out there and each is assigned to a certain number of people. Every human magic or muggle is going to die at some point in their lives. It's our job as grim reapers to escort their souls up to the big man who will then decide whether they go up or…well you know, down"

"Wait, the big man, you mean-"

"Yes yes yes him, but in order to avoid religious issues we just refer to him as the big man here okay?"

Harry just nodded slightly.

"Good, anyway every person has a point in time were they must die, but sometimes people die before their times and if they were good people, we send them back."

"So I've been dying before my time?" Harry said figuring it out.

"Yes and that's exactly why I'm in trouble with my boss. You're suppose to live to be around 200 years old, I can't give year the exact time since it violates the rules but anyway like I was saying you were suppose to defeat that Voldemort guy and marry your soulmate, some Granger girl…I don't remember her name, and then you have bunch of kids and grandkids and great-grandkids and then you die, get it?"

Harry didn't answer right away, he had been taken completely by surprise when Max mentioned who his soulmate was suppose to be.

"Hermione, she's my soulmate? I thought that it would be Ginny." He said aloud.

"Ginny? Redhead? Short? Really pretty?" Max asked.

"Yeah" Harry answered.

"Oh, so she's the love potion girl." Max said nodding his head.

"Love potion? Ginny would never do that." Harry said angrily.

"How would you know, you hardly even know her, doesn't it seem a bit odd that you fell for her so quickly?" Max asked.

"Well…I…" Now that Harry thought about, it did seem odd that he had fallen for her just like that, and Ginny had had a crush on him for a long time.

"Exactly, now as I was saying, when a person dies before his time it gets his grim reaper into a lot of trouble, and you have definitely given me more trouble than any other charge I've had."

"Hang on a minute" Harry interrupted once again, "What about Cedric, and Sirius and Dumbledore, why didn't they come back?"

Max sighed heavily at this, "I knew this would come up, you see Harry when a person dies before their time they need to have a body to go back to. For instance, if some guy, I don't know…O.D.'s on heroine we can send him back because his body is still intact, but if someone were to die in a fire, there is no body left to go back to, just ashes. When Mr. Black fell through the veil, it wasn't his time, but he went through body and all, there was nothing left of him, so there was nothing we could do for him. As for Mr. Dumbledore and Mr. Diggory well…it was their time."

"THEIR TIME?!?!?! THAT CAN'T BE!" Harry shouted, enraged.

"I thought we weren't going to yell anymore" Max said.

"Look, Dumbledore I guess I can understand, but you're telling me that Cedric was suppose to die at only SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD!?!?!?! That just isn't fair."

At that point, Max seemed to have forgotten their little 'no yelling' agreement because then he started shouting as well, "WELL YOU KNOW WHAT POTTER, SOMETIME LIFE ISN'T FAIR OKAY. YOU THINK IT'S FAIR THAT WARS ARE ALWAYS BREAKING OUT ON EARTH OR THAT PEOPLE ARE TREATED LIKE CRAP JUST BECAUSE THEIR SKIN IS A DIFFERENT COLOR, OR THAT IN ONE MOMENT YOU CAN HAVE EVERYTHING A MAN WOULD WANT JUST FOR IT TO BE RIPPED AWAY FROM YOU? HUH, DO YOU?"

Harry was surprised by this, especially the last part. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Max was breathing very heavily now. He looked like he was about to answer but instead walked past him, which confused Harry greatly.

"I'll be right back" Max said and opened the door…

…to find Bill and Ted with their ears pressed against the door. They laughed nervously before running away down the fall. "Idiots" Max muttered and left closing the door behind him.

He returned about ten minutes later carrying a heavy stack of papers which he then dropped onto his desk which made a loud thud and caused Harry to jumped.

"Okay" Max said sitting down again. "As I have already explained, after your previous visits here your memories of your deaths were erased. Well my bosses have decided to give you one more chance at life, if you die again whether it be your time or not, you're staying and I'm out of a job so do yourself and me a favor and don't die this time, okay."

"I'll try" Harry said, feeling like laughing for some reason.

"Good, now then, things are going to be a bit different this time around. First of all, you won't be sent back to the moment you died, you get sent back to whenever you want in your life. Be it when you were ten, seven, hell you could go back to the exact moment you were born if you want, although I personally wouldn't recommend that. Second you get to keep all your memories of her previous life and of your latest visit here. Sound good?"

Harry head was spinning now, good, it was better than good, it was great! He could change so many things in his life, he could save Sirius! "Yeah, sounds good." He answered hoarsely.

Max smiled for the first time since Harry had met him. "Excellent, now how far back do you want to go?"

Harry thought for a moment. He probably shouldn't go any further back than to when he was five, and it would probably seem weird for a little kid to be wandering around alone (because he sure as hell wasn't staying with the Dursley's), but he couldn't let Sirius stay in Azkaban for all that time. "Twelve years" he answered finally, "To when I was five."

"Hm..." Max said, that's pretty far, but if that's what you want, then it shall be. Now before you sign this contract here, which will allow you to retain your memories, there are a few things my bosses think you sound know. First, when you get sorted again, listen to the hat because it doesn't lie. Second, watch out for those Weasley people, they aren't as nice they seem, especially the two youngest, but the twins are trustworthy. Finally, it would be a good idea you to go over to some guy named Malfoy's house, it will explain some things. I don't know what any of that means but I guess you will."

Harry nodded slightly, he would have think about that later.

"Okay, now here's a pen" Max said handing Harry a blue pen and pointed to a certain spot on the contract. "Now sign here…and here…here…here…initial here…and here…signature here…and here…NOT THERE…here…here…and one more time on the dotted line."

By now Harry hand hurt like hell so he was glad to find that he was done signing. "So now what happens?" Harry asked.

As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt the ground dissolve under him.

"BON VOYAGE" He could hear Max shouting at him as he began to fall into the darkness.


	2. Putting a plan into Motion

**A/N: READ THIS FIRST!!!!! I just want everyone to know right now that I am completely ignoring the events of DH in this story partly because of the horrible "romance" scenes between R/HR, and H/G, partly because she killed off about half of my favorite characters, and partly because I started this story before DH came out so some things that I planned on writing (and still will) regarding their seventh year did not happen in DH, so there will be absolutely no mention of DH in this story. However, books 1-6 will be the same except for the changes that Harry makes (and trust me there will be a lot).**

* * *

Harry's head was throbbing. Again. He opened his eyes half-expecting to find himself face to face with another blinding light but instead, found himself staring up at a dark ceiling of wood. He lifted his hands to rub the sleep from his eyes but stopped short. Even though it was dark in the cramped space, he could see that his hands were now much smaller than they had been, but if Harry remembered correctly, he had just been de-aged about twelve years. He sat up slowly as if he was scared he would hit his head on the ceiling. Of course since he was now at least three feet shorter then he had been, that was pretty unlikely.

Harry peered out through the slits in the cupboard door and could just make out the clock hanging on the wall across from him. It read 5:30, which meant he had about three hours before Aunt Petunia would come wake him up and order him to make breakfast for Dudley.

In those three hours, Harry spent most of his time thinking about what he could change now. Obviously getting away from the Dursley's and getting Sirius out of Azkaban were at the top of the list. He just had to figure out how. After about two hours, he had a plan formulated in his mind, but by now he was very very hungry, but he knew that he wouldn't be eating anything until Aunt Petunia came to wake him up, and then all he'd probably get were two pieces of dry, burnt toast and a glass of milk. The thought of this pitiful meal made Harry grimace, but he knew that if his plan worked, this would be the last time he would ever have to eat it.

Harry spent the last hour considering the three pieces of advice that Max had left him with. The first bit was pretty easy for him to figure out, they obviously wanted him to take the sorting hat's advice this time around and be put into Slytherin. He was having a lot of trouble understanding why he should go into the house that turned out so many dark wizards. Of course, not all Slytherins were bad, but still, he couldn't see himself as a slytherin. Maybe they meant that he just shouldn't go into Gryffindor and not necessarily Slytherin. But if he remembered correctly, the hat had never actually said he shouldn't be in Gryffindor, just that he would have done better in Slytherin.

The second bit confused him greatly. The Weasley's were his friends, why should he avoid them? And for that matter, how would going to Malfoy's home benefit him? Perhaps they were just playing some kind of weird trick on him.

He was deterred from any further thoughts of this by a loud rapping on the cupboard. "Get up now boy! Dudley wants his breakfast." Came the shriek of his horse-faced aunt. Harry groaned as he realized that he had lost track of time and now had to get up and deal with his 'relatives'.

The first thing he saw upon entering the kitchen was his whale of a cousin Dudley. At five year old he wasn't really huge yet, but he was definitely too big to be considered normal for someone his age. "What took you so long you lazy git, I'm straving, make me breakfast now!" The horribly obese boy yelled at his cousin.

Harry grumbled and set to work cooking bacon and eggs, which was hard since he was too small to reach the stovetop.

A few minutes later, Harry's Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen. He grunted at Harry before turning all his attention to his son. Harry managed to finish cooking the food and serve it to his Uncle and Cousin, the latter of whom wolfed it all down in twenty seconds flat before demanding more.

"I'm sorry Dudley" Harry said not feeling sorry at all. "I didn't make anymore."

Perhaps it was because of that fact that Harry had not been forced to cook for the Dursley's in a long time, but he had forgotten until that moment just how bad an idea it was not to make seconds for Dudley. In the next two seconds, Dudley had burst into fake tears and was beating the kitchen table with his meaty fists.

"D-daddy!" He sobbed, "Did you h-hear that? The freak d-didn't make enough food for me, h-he wants me to s-starve!"

In any other situation, Harry would have laughed at this display, but not now. Vernon's face turned purple with rage as he advanced on his nephew, who stepped back in fear. What Harry wouldn't give for a wand right now.

"You little brat, how dare you try and starve my son, after all we've given you. We could have just shipped you off to the orphanage but instead we took you in out of the goodness of our hearts." Vernon yelled at the boy.

"Yeah right" Harry muttered under his breath, knowing full well that the only reason he was still hear was because of Dumbledore. Unfortunately, Vernon heard that remark, and that only made the veins in his head pulse faster.

"What did you say?" Vernon hissed in a deadly voice.

Now Harry was starting to get very nervous. He didn't have his wand so he had to way to defend himself from the giant man. "I-I didn't say anything Uncle Vernon" He stammered out.

"Don't you lie to me you ungrateful worm, you've earned yourself a day in the cupboard for that." Vernon roared. With that, he grabbed Harry by his shirt and dragged him to the cupboard. He threw the small boy in and slam the door shut. Harry laid down on the bed to catch his breath. One his face was a small smile.

Phase 1 complete.

* * *

That night, the residents of Number Four Privet Drive were currently in deep slumber, except of course for Harry Potter. Harry was at the moment, writing a note on a piece of paper he had grabbed from the kitchen counter that morning. If all went well, that note would help get Sirius out of Azkaban eight year earlier than he might have been. Luck had been on Harry's side earlier that night. He had been trying to figure out a way to undo the lock on the cupboard door when a half-asleep Petunia walked past. Seizing the opportunity, Harry had called out to his aunt saying he had to use the loo. Drowsily, his Aunt had simply mumbled a reply and unlocked the door. Now all Harry had to do was walk out the door and hope to god he was back before sunrise.

Harry pocketed the note as well as a small box he had found lying around and slowly opened the cupboard door. He stepped out into the hallway and crept softly to the front door. Stepping out on the porch he noticed that it was very cold out and wished very much that he had a jacket. Ignoring the cold he walked out to the street and extended his right hand, hoping this would work. With a telltale screech of tires, the Knight Bus stopped directly in front of the small boy. Out the door stepped a young woman with bright red hair tied back in a ponytail. "Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard, my name is Tina and I will be your conductor for this evening." She said reading the contents of a small index card she was holding.

She looked up at Harry once she finished and was surprised that a little boy had flagged down the bus. "My, your just a child! She exclaimed.

Harry put on the best scared face he could and said, "Please miss, my mummy said if I ever get lost, I should signal the Knight Bus and they would bring me home, I don't have any money, but I can't get home and I'm scared, please help me."

This had obviously worked as a look of pity had appeared on Tina's face. "It's okay little boy, we'll take you home for free." She said comfortingly.

Harry inwardly applauded his fine ruse as he gave the woman a big smile and stepped aboard the bus. He sat down on the bed closest to the door. "Where do to you live sweetie?" Tina asked.

"Ottery St. Catchpole, a house called "The Burrow" Harry replied.

"Alright then, we'll have you there in a jiffy." The conductor smiled.

A few moments later, the Knight Bus was off. Harry had almost forgotten how fast it could go and almost flew of his bed. Tina however was too busy reading a copy of "Witch Weekly" to notice. It amazed Harry to no end that the conductors of the Knight Bus were not affected at all by the speed this thing would go at.

Five minutes later, the bus came to a halt in front of the Weasley household. Harry was more than happy to get off. The conductor gave him another smile as he stepped off the bus. "Thank you for helping ma'am." Harry said looking out at Tina. She smiled and closed the door. With that, the Knight Bus took off once again and Harry was alone now.

Phase 2 complete.

Harry climbed up the wall on the side of the rickety house to the second story. After much searching he finally found Percy Weasley's room. Harry peered through the glass at the sleeping 9 year old and finally saw what he was looking for. The large rat was lying on Percy's nightstand sound asleep. Harry slowly opened the window a crack and reached over to the nightstand. He managed to pick up the rat without waking it or its owner. He put the rat in the box and closed it firmly before beginning his descent.

He had to jump once he was about two feet over the ground which was one problem, unfortunately however, the fall seemed to have woken Pettigrew, who started scrambling around inside the box looking for a way out. Harry had to shake the box very fast in order to knock Pettigrew out and once the rat stopped moving, Harry opened the box to make sure he was still breathing, he was.

Phase 3 complete.

Harry recalled Remus telling him were he used to live once. He was pretty sure he remembered the address. Hoping it was the right one, Harry quickly apparated away (he had learned in seventh year).

He ended up in front of a small, one story shack which was in dire need of a paint job. Harry peaked through one of the windows to find the sleeping form of Remus Lupin. Relieved that he had gotten the address right, Harry ran around the small house until he found the kitchen window, which was partially open. Harry opened it a little bit farther and managed to place the box containing Pettigrew one the old kitchen table. On top of the box was the note. Harry quietly put the window back the way it was and backed up slowly. His plan was now complete.

Smiling to himself, he apparated back to Privet Drive and after quietly reentering the house and his cupboard drifted of to sleep, knowing very well the tomorrow was going to be a very interesting day for the wizarding world.


	3. Headline News

Remus Lupin rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he walk into the small kitchen to make himself some coffee. He flicked his wand at the coffee maker to get it started and a few minutes, was enjoying a hot cup. He went into the living room not once looking over at the box that sat waiting for him on the kitchen table.

He plopped down on the ratty old couch and sipped his drink absentmindedly, his mind wondering through happy memories of his past. A gust of wind from the partially open window stirred Remus from his thoughts.

Muttering to himself about how he should have shut that window last night, he walked over to it and slowly closed it. His eyes casually glanced down as he began to step back and he was surprised to find a small box with a piece of folded paper taped to it sitting on the kitchen table that he had never seen before. He jerked his head around looking for the person who had put it there. He saw no one, so he turned his attention back to the box. Wondering if there was some kind of dark spell on it he cautiously pulled out his wand and slowly picked up the box. When nothing happened, Remus pulled the paper off the box and carefully unfolding, read its contents:

'I thought you might like to have this. A Friend'

Now very confused, Remus slowly opened the box and looked inside. His eyes widened, a strange combination of shock, sadness, regret, and rage filling him as he stared at the familiar looking rat in the box. Without stopping to think, Remus closed the box and magically sealed in case Pettigrew woke up and tried to get out, and then he ran to the fireplace and grabbed some floo powder out of the pot next to him. "Dumbledore's Office" he shouted as he threw the powder and in a flash of green flames, vanished.

* * *

That evening, a special issue of The Daily Prophet was sent to baffled subscribers all over the country.

_PETTIGREW ALIVE! SIRIUS BLACK CLEARED OF ALL CHARGES!_

_By Seanna Stevens_

_This afternoon, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge surprised his staff when he ordered them to get convicted murderer Sirius Black out Azkaban and arrange a trial for him as soon as possible. Black's trial commenced only three hours later in front of the whole Wizengamot. This reporter was able to get inside and witness the trial_.

* * *

"Percy please, Scabbers is probably just hiding again don't make such a fuss."

"But mum I've looked everywhere, he's gone"

Molly Weasley sighed exasperatedly as she looked down at her young son. He had come bounding down the stairs ten minutes ago saying that his pet rat had vanished without a trace and had not stopped complaining since.

"Really Percy, you're always complaining about how boring Scabbers is and how you've been wanting an owl aren't you?" She said.

Percy's expression faltered "well yeah but…"

Molly rolled her eyes a bit "I'm sure Scabbers will turn up soon, now go and play with your brothers alright? I have to cook dinner."

Percy Weasley looked crestfallen but obeyed his mother and walked sadly out of the kitchen. With that, Molly went back to preparing dinner, only to be distracted once again by a tapping on the window. Molly looked up to see a tawny owl holding a rolled up newspaper in its beak. Confused, Molly opened the window to let it in. It did not come in though; it simply dropped the newspaper onto the counter and flew away.

Molly's confusion grew when she realized that the newspaper was 'The Daily Prophet' but they had already delivered the newspaper that morning. Molly curiously unfolded the newspaper and read the headline. She gasped and, dropping the paper to the floor clutched a hand to her heart.

* * *

In a large manor in the countryside, a young woman in her mid-twenties sat on a large couch reading a book. She was a good looking woman with long blonde hair that was somewhat curly in places and grey eyes. A popping noise drew her attention away from her book and she saw that the house elf had just entered the room.

"Dinner is ready Mistress" the elf said in a squeaky voice.

"Thank you Dobby, I will be down shortly." The woman replied.

The elf bowed and disappeared with another crack.

Narcissa Malfoy marked her place in her book and set in down on the small end table next to the sofa. She was just about to leave the room when she heard a strange swooping sound behind her. She turned around in time to see an unfamiliar owl fly out the window. Looking down she found that the owl had dropped a newspaper on the sofa. Narcissa picked the paper up and unrolled it. Her eyes widened.

* * *

A family of three was just sitting down to eat when a black owl swooped in and dropped a newspaper on to the table.

"Xenophilius dear, didn't we already get the Daily Prophet today?" Asked the wife as she picked the paper up.

"Yes we did, that's odd" said Xenophilius.

The couple's small daughter looked on confused as her mother unrolled the paper and looked at the headline while her husband read over her shoulder. His jaw dropped.

"What's it say?" asked four year old Luna Lovegood.

But her parents were at a loss for words.

* * *

In a small flat situated in the middle of London, a young woman lay on her back absentmindedly strumming a guitar. She was around 25 years old and had black hair with red streaks in it that fell a little past her shoulders. Her eyes were dark brown and she was about 5 ½ feet tall.

She stayed in her stupor until a loud knocking at her front door disturbed her. She looked towards the door and sighed as she got up and out the guitar back on its stand next to an amp. She ambled over to the door and opened it. In came a frantic looking young blonde woman waving a newspaper in her hand.

"Tammy what the hell?" the woman yelled.

The woman named Tammy took a few deep breaths and then said "Valerie, have you read the Daily Prophet?"

Valerie rolled her eyes at her friend, "Tammy, you know I haven't been subscribed to the daily prophet for years."

"I know I know" Tammy said shoving the paper into Valerie's chest. "But you have to read this one; you're not going to believe this."

* * *

Harry Potter sat in his cupboard with a triumphant smile on his face. Even though he couldn't know for sure, he was positive that his plan had worked, and that Sirius was free to live the life he never could in Harry's time.

* * *

Remus Lupin stood outside the ministry office as Sirius Black finished registering as an animagus. He had been fined 1500 galleons for being unregistered in the first place, but that was a small price to pay compared to Azkaban. Remus couldn't believe that this had happened. He had his best friend back now and he hadn't felt this happy since before Lily and James died. As happy as he was feeling, he was also confused. He didn't understand how someone could not only know that Sirius was the traitor but also manage to capture Pettigrew. He had at first thought it had been a member of the order but that didn't make sense, no one outside of Dumbledore, James, Lily, and Sirius knew that the Potters had changed secret keepers, Remus hadn't even known himself. The whole thing just baffled him.

A door opening and closing signaled Sirius's return. As Remus looked his friend up and down, feelings of sadness and pity flew through him. Sirius looked as though he had not had a decent meal in years. His handsome face had become gaunt and very pale. His once cheerful eyes were dulled and almost lifeless. He had been given new robes which hung loosely from his frame due to years of malnourishment.

"Well, that didn't take so long I suppose" Sirius croaked.

Remus smiled at his old friend, "Ready to get out of here?"

"You bet" Sirius laughed.

His laughed sounded much hoarser than it had been but still had that same bark to it. It made Remus glad to see that not everything about Sirius had changed.

"So Sirius, now that you're free, what are you going to do" Remus asked the ex-convict.

"Well" Sirius began smiling, "First I'm going to get some- no scratch that, a lot of food in me."

Remus chuckled, "That can be arranged.

"Then," Sirius continued, "I'm going to take a nap for a few days"

"Right" Remus commented cheerfully.

"Then you and I are going to get custody of Harry" Sirius stated happily.

Remus halted, "What?"

"Well do you expect me to just leave my godson with those muggles?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah but Sirius, Dumbledore says that that's the only place where Harry is safe." Remus explained.

To his surprise and total confusion, Sirius started laughing loudly causing several passer-bys to stop and stare at them.

"Moony please, Harry? Safe with those Dursley people? You heard what Lily said about them, they hate magic, I wouldn't be surprised if they've been mistreating Harry all this time and plus, if I remember correctly, James and Lily left us with explicit instructions not to ever let Harry be given to the Dursley's, it was to be me first, then you, then the Tonks's."

"I know Padfoot I know, but Dumbledore says-"Remus started only to immediately interrupted.

"Dumbledore Dumbledore Dumbledore, Merlin Moony, when did you become such a pushover?" Sirius stated.

Remus was becoming annoyed. "Look, I'm just saying that Dumbledore thinks it's best that Harry stays with the Dursley's so we should except that. I'm sure that they've been treating him fine."

Sirius made a pft sound and rolled his eyes, "Must be fun living in delusionalland Moony." He commented.

Remus scowled.

"Look how about we just check up on him?" Sirius suggested.

"What do you mean?" questioned Remus

"I mean we go over to Privet Drive, disillusion ourselves and just watch through the window or something, we be able to them without them seeing us, and if Harry is okay, then we'll leave him alone." Sirius elaborated.

Remus furrowed his brow in thought, it seemed like an alright idea. "Okay fine" he consented finally.

Sirius grinned for a second but then became serious (no pun intended) again. "But if he is being abused," he began in a low voice, "We're taking him with us and that's that."

Remus nodded, he wouldn't admit it, but he had been thinking the same thing.

* * *

**A/N: So now Sirius is free, what do you think they'll find when they go to Privet Drive? Well you'll just have to wait for the next chapter to find out.**

**Also, I have the next few chapters in mind up to the sorting. What I'm having a heard time with is figuring out what house he should be in. Whatever house I pick, Hermione will be in also. I don't want to put him in Gryffindor again though. I've been trying to decide between Ravenclaw and Slytherin but I'm having a hard time choosing, so I've decided to put it to a vote.**

**Just tell me in your review if you think Harry (and Hermione) should be in Ravenclaw or Slytherin. Or if you have a strong reason why he should be in one of the other two houses, tell me. Voting will continue for the next few chapters. So don't forget to review and vote!**


	4. Leaving and a Letter

"Now remember, we're just checking on him"

"Uh-huh"

"We're just going to look in the window and make sure he's safe, right?"

"Yeah, sure"

"Sirius are you even listening to me?" Remus snapped.

"Huh? Oh yeah sure, I'm listening" Sirius said quickly.

Remus rolled his eyes at his friend as they slowly approached Privet Drive.

"Which is it again?" Remus asked.

"Number 4," Answered Sirius, "I think that's it right there."

He pointed in the direction of the neat muggle home that his godson currently resided in and the two began walking quickly toward it. Luckily, they had already cast the disillusionment spell on themselves or they would have gotten more than one stare for their wizard attire from the tightly spun neighbors. They made it to the Dursley home and treaded up to the window. They looked in to see the Dursley's kitchen. Mr. Dursley was sitting at the kitchen table reading a newspaper, and cup of coffee sitting in front of him. Dudley Dursley sat across from his father and was currently shouting something at his mother while she started coming down the stairs. Just what he was shouting, Sirius and Remus couldn't say since the window was tightly locked and they could not hear through it.

"Merlin," Sirius gasped when he saw Dudley, "Is that a child or a baby whale?"

Remus snorted but didn't tear his eyes away from the window, 'Where is he?' he wondered.

His question was answered when Mrs. Dursley began rapping at the cupboard under the staircase she had just come down.

"What is she doing?" Sirius wondered aloud.

"I don't know but I'm starting to think you were right." Remus muttered back.

Unfortunately, Sirius was right, as they saw when a much underfed and dirty looking Harry James Potter stepped out of the small cupboard. Sirius's eyes flared with anger at the sight.

"You see that?" he hissed at Remus, "They're keeping him locked in a cupboard! And by the looks of things, they haven't been feeding him much either, still think he's safe here Moony?"

Remus didn't answer, because at that moment he saw something that shook him to the core. Mr. Dursley was yelling something at Harry. Harry responded with something that must have anger Mr. Dursley as the beefy man suddenly picked up the tiny boy and began to violently shake him. Finally he stopped and threw, not dropped, threw him to the ground. Harry landed on his arm and they could she his face contorted in agony. Dudley Dursley was laughing and clapping his hands in sadistic glee.

"Okay that's it" Sirius shouted and stormed towards the front of the house.

"Padfoot hang on" Remus called after him.

Sirius turned and stared at his friend disbelievingly, "Remus, after what you just saw you're still going to make me leave him here?"

Remus's face was expressionless, "No, I was going to tell you that you can't very well break in if you still disillusioned." He answered and with that, removed the spell from Sirius and himself. "Not come on, let's go get Harry"

Sirius smiled at the werewolf and then once again begin heading for the front of the house. One minute, and a large reducto curse to the front door later, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin entered the Dursley home.

Mrs. Dursley screamed at the sight of them and Mr. Dursley's large face began turning purple. "Who are you?" he demanded, "What do you mean by breaking into my home."

"SHUT UP DURSLEY!" Sirius shouted pointing his wand at the man and making Mrs. Dursley squeak in fear as she clutched her fat son to her chest.

Remus found Harry lying on the floor where Dursley had thrown him. He appeared to have lost consciousness and the arm that he fell on was broken. Remus immediately scooped the boy up in his arms and moved back toward Sirius who still had his wand raised at Dursley.

"You're a couple of those freaks then aren't you?" Dursley sneered.

Sirius jabbed his wand at Dursley's throat making him shut up. Dursley gulped as beads of sweat began forming on his forehead.

"If by 'freaks' you mean Wizards, then yes we are, and you muggles have abused my godson for the last time!" Sirius yelled fiercely.

"G-godson?" Petunia Dursley stammered fearfully.

Sirius looked at her, and then back at Vernon Dursley as a smile came to his face. He retracted his wand and, to everyone's surprise, sunk into a low bow. "Oh how silly of me, I never introduced myself did I?"

He stood straight again and gripped Dursley's hand making him jump, "Sirius Black sir, Godfather of Harry Potter and convicted murderer of thirteen people."

At the 'convicted murderer' part, Vernon Dursley let out small frightened scream and quickly pulled his hand away.

"Now then, I'm not here to hurt you, I simply want my godson, now if you just let me take him peacefully, I promise you will never see him or me again." Sirius bargained.

Vernon didn't move or say anything out of fear, "and if we refuse?" Vernon quietly asked.

Sirius's expression darkened as he advanced on Vernon. "Then you get taken out of here by the muggle aurors in a matchbox" he muttered in a low voice that chilled Vernon and made him step back in fear.

Sirius's dark expression then quickly vanished and he grinned at Vernon once again. "So, what do you say?" he asked cheerfully.

Vernon had never been more scared in his life. "F-fine, take him and go away!"

Sirius's grin widened, "I'm so glad you're being so reasonable."

With that, the two men turned and started toward the door. But Sirius stopped short and in a quick motion, he spun back around and threw a spell at Dudley Dursley. Petunia screamed as her young son suddenly turned into a large pig and Vernon Dursley's purple face grew even more so.

Sirius sniggered loudly and continued with Remus out the door. When they got outside Sirius burst out laughing and almost fell to the ground.

"Padfoot why did you do that?" Remus snapped at Sirius angrily.

"C-calm down Moony," Sirius said between laughs, "The spell only lasts about an hour."

"I know that, I meant why did you tell them you murdered those people, you're innocent." Remus explained.

"I know that." Sirius said, "I know that, you know that, and the wizarding world now knows that, but they don't know that."

Remus couldn't help but grin at his friend.

When Harry woke up, he found himself staring up at a rather familiar ceiling. He smiled knowing that his plan had worked. He knew that once Sirius was free he'd want to get custody of Harry, and seeing as Harry was now lying in the hospital wing or Hogwarts, he was right.

Outside, Harry could hear a lot of shouting. He recognized three voices as Sirius, Remus, and Dumbledore. Harry figured they were arguing over his placement at the Dursley's since he managed to catch parts of their conversation such as, "Locked in a cupboard", "-malnourished', and 'stupid old man' which Harry figured Sirius had called Dumbledore.

In was then that Harry noticed that he was in the same bed that he had stayed in all the times before when he was in the hospital wing. 'It's like they save this bed for me' Harry chuckled to himself.

Harry tried to move his arm and for a moment, was surprised that he could. He was sure that Uncle Vernon had broken it when he threw Harry down. But then again, Madam Pomfrey could mend bones in a second. Harry couldn't help but smile at the memory. He didn't enjoy getting his arm broken of course, what he did enjoy though was calling Dudley a baby hippo.

The screaming outside was getting louder, Harry had never heard Sirius or Remus sound so angry. Dumbledore of course sounded very calm. Despite that Harry knew that Sirius and Remus were winning the argument. Harry grinned widely to himself, he had a good feeling that he would not be seeing the Dursley's again any time soon.

Finally, the doors to the infirmary opened and Dumbledore, Remus, and Sirius walked in. They saw that Harry was awake and approached him. Harry tried his best to look like an innocent, albeit frightened five year old.

"Hello there Harry" Dumbledore cheerfully greeted him.

"Who are you?" Harry asked faking nervousness.

"My name is Albus Dumbledore" Dumbledore began before gesturing towards Sirius and Remus, "and this is Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, how are you feeling Harry?"

"O-okay, where am I?"

"Well Harry, that's what I want to talk to you about, you see…"

One hour, and a lot of fake looks of shock from Harry, Dumbledore finished explaining the wizarding world and his heritage to Harry. He even told Harry about Voldemort, but didn't get too far into that.

"Um…if you'll excuse me, I have something to take care of," Sirius suddenly said and walked out of the hospital wing.

"So I'm a wizard?" Harry said in awe.

"That's right." Dumbledore answered simply.

"But Uncle Vernon says that magic doesn't exist."

Remus grimaced at the mention of the horrible man, "He's wrong Harry, magic is very real and you have it."

"Now then Harry, Remus and Sirius here tell me that your aunt and uncle don't treat you right, so I've decided that if you want to, you can go live with them instead." Dumbledore explained.

The little voice in Harry's mind cheered triumphantly that this news and Harry had to fight incredibly hard to fight of the grin attempting to form on his face.

"Will Uncle Vernon be mad at me if I do?" He asked innocently.

Again Remus's expression darkened a bit.

"No Harry, he doesn't mind." Dumbledore answered sincerely.

'Gee, I wonder why?' Harry thought sarcastically, "Well, Okay then."

Remus grinned happily at his best friend's son.

Sirius returned two hours later with a happy look on his face.

"Where have you been?" asked Remus.

"I had to go to Gringotts in order to get some affairs taken care of, and I've bought a house for us in a muggle community." Sirius explained.

"Muggle community?" Remus questioned his friend curiously.

"Yeah," Sirius sighed, "Way I see it, there are still some people out there who think I'm guilty and I figure it's best to stay away from that, at least for a few years until this whole thing cools off."

"Hm…I see what you mean." Remus muttered while nodding his head. "And what do you mean we?"

"Well, I was hoping you'd move in with us, I can't take care of Harry alone as much as I hate to admit it." Sirius answered quietly, "Come on Moony, please."

He pulled his lips into an exaggerated pout making Remus rolled his eyes and let out a chuckle.

"Alright alright I'll do it, just quit doing that pout thing will ya?" Remus caved.

Sirius let out a barking laugh and clapped his friend on the arm.

Valerie Pruitt stared out the window of her best friend Tammy's flat. For the last few days Tammy had been bugging her about finding out were Sirius was living and going to visit him. Valerie however did not want to go. She and Sirius had never gotten along very well; in fact, the only reason Valerie even ever spoke to him was because her best friend Lily was dating his best friend James.

If she was going to go back to the Wizarding world to see anyone, it would be her longtime crush Remus Lupin. Many of the songs she had written had been about him, even though for some otherworldly reason Tammy thought they were about Sirius. She had been attracted to his quiet and reserved nature much more than to the cocky, arrogant mannerisms of one Sirius Black. Those same mannerisms were ironically the reason that Tammy thought they were a perfect match.

Valerie disagreed however, there was no way she and Sirius Black could ever get together. Now her and Remus…

"Valerie, I'm just saying, you've got to at least want to see Harry, he is your godson you know." Tammy goaded her.

"I know he is and I do want to see him, just not Sirius." Valerie explained for the umpteenth time.

Tammy let out an exaggerated sigh and rolled her eyes. "Come on Valerie, when are you going to get of the denial train and realize that you like Sirius?"

"Never, because I don't, you know that I like Remus." Valerie snapped, annoyed.

"But you and Remus have no chemistry." Tammy insisted. "He's a nice guy and all, just not your guy; that guy happens to be Sirius Black. Take it from me; I know what I'm talking about."

"I know you do" Valerie muttered.

Valerie hated to admit it, but it was true that Tammy knew what she was talking about. Back at Hogwarts, Tammy had loved giving the other students love advice (whether they asked for it or not) and had managed to get ten couples together before leaving Hogwarts, and eight of which ended up getting married shortly after. But Valerie was sure that Tammy couldn't always be right, even though she hadn't been wrong so far. Valerie was positive that Tammy was wrong this time; there was no way in hell she and Sirius Black would ever get together.

Narcissa Malfoy stared nervously at the parchment in front of her. An eagle feather quill in her shaky hand poised above the paper. She wasn't really sure how Sirius would react to getting a letter from her after so many years.

In all honesty if the situation didn't call for it, she would not be writing him at all, but she needed help, not only for herself, but for her son. He was becoming more and more like his father every day and Narcissa did not want that. She wanted him to grow up in a safe environment, and no death eater could offer that. She knew that now that Sirius was free, she had a chance to get herself and Draco out of this situation and she was going to take it despite the consequences. Sirius Black was now the only person in the world that could help her and she prayed that he would.

Resolved, Narcissa put the quill to the parchment and began writing.

"Dear Sirius…"

* * *

**A/N: I'm so sorry for the short chapter but I promise I'll try to make them longer. Anyway, the voting for Harry's house is still going, so far the poll stands:**

**RAVENCLAW: 16**

**SLYTHERIN: 7**

**GRYFFINDOR: 1**

**HUFFLEPUFF: 0**

**As I said last chapter, this will continue for the next couple of chapter so you have plenty of time to cast your vote if you haven't already. See you next chapter.**


	5. A Helping Hand

The house Sirius bought was definitely more than Harry had expected. It was in a wealthy muggle community on the outskirts of London. It was an old Victorian two story home with five bedrooms, three bathrooms, a large kitchen, and a huge backyard. Why Sirius thought they would need this much room, Harry did not know, but any home that didn't have the Dursley's in it was good enough for him.

Sirius and Remus spent the first two days after they had settled in getting all sorts of clothing and toys for Harry, they even bought him his own TV set and charmed it to work on magic. Harry, being in actuality much too old to be playing with half the things they bought him, surprisingly didn't mind it at all. The way he saw it, he had not had much of a childhood his first time around, and now that he had a chance to relive those years, he didn't think that spending a little bit of time on childish things would hurt, especially considering all the work he would have to do in the next few years to prepare to face Voldemort.

Harry had already met with several of the neighborhood children though since it was summertime, most of them were away on vacation, and he found that he enjoyed playing games with them every now and then. All and all, it was a pretty uneventful few days. It wasn't until about three days after they moved in that something would happen that reminded Harry of the advice Max had left him with.

* * *

"Who wants scrambled eggs?" Sirius called out from his spot at the stove.

"I do! I do!" Harry shouted back while waving his arm in the air.

Sirius chuckled and waved his wand over the eggs to cook them. A whooshing sound distracted him for a moment until he noticed that it was just a post owl. It flew right over to him and stuck its leg out. Sirius absentmindedly untied the letter and waited to hear the second whoosh that would signal the owl departure. When he didn't hear it, he looked up again and saw that the owl had not moved, it just stared at him with it's giant amber eyes.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at it, "Go on now, you've delivered your letter, go home!"

The owl didn't move an inch. It was then that Sirius figured he'd better read the letter it dropped off. He picked it up from the counter top, ripped it open, pulled out the folded piece of parchment inside and began to read silently.

"Dear Sirius,

I suppose that it may come as a bit of a shock to you that I'm actually writing to you after all this time but you see Sirius, as much as I hate to admit it, I need help. I want to end my marriage to Lucius, I want my son to grow up away from his influence and I want him put in Azkaban were he belongs. I can't explain it in this letter but believe me when I say that he deserves to be put in jail for the rest of his miserable life.

I know that we haven't spoken in years and the last time we did didn't end up so well, but I am asking that you please put our differences aside and help me, then if you want, I will take Draco and disappear from your life entirely. I am requesting that you come to my home at Malfoy Manor so we can further discuss this. This letter is also a portkey which will activate at exactly 12:00 am on the day you should receive this letter, Lucius will not be home at that time, it will just be me, Draco and our house-elf Dobby, whom I have ordered not to tell Lucius anything. I hope you will come.

Sincerely,

Narcissa Black-Malfoy"

Once Sirius finished reading the letter he looked up at the clock, it was now 11:00 am. Which meant he had one hour to decide what he was going to do. On one hand, it could be some kind of trap to get to him or to Harry, and Lucius either forged the letter or had his wife write it as a way to lure him into their clutches. On the other hand, he had known Narcissa for many years, and though she was vain and selfish and somewhat spoiled, he knew that she cared very much for her child and he doubted that she would be low enough to use him to gain sympathy.

He spent the next hour mulling over it, while Harry sat in the living room watching TV. The next time he looked up, he saw that it was already ten to. He had to make a decision soon. Finally, he decided. He got up from his spot and picked up the letter, preparing for the portkey's activation.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked.

"Nothing Harry," Sirius answered, "I just have to go…visit an old friend, I'll be back soon."

"Can I come?"

Sirius didn't expect this. He knew that he was going to give Narcissa the benefit of the doubt, but he did not want Harry along in case it really was a trap, "eh…no, not this time cub."

"You mean you're gonna leave me here all alone?" Harry asked sounding a bit nervous.

"What? No, Uncle Moony will watch you." Sirius answered confused.

"But he left a long time ago, remember? He said he was looking for work."

Sirius felt like slapping himself in the head 'That's right!' he thought to himself, 'How could I forget? Well this is just great, now there's no one hear to watch Harry, and I'm not leaving a five year old kid alone. I guess I'll just have to take him with me, but I swear if this is a trap…'

Sirius sighed in defeat, "Alright Harry, you can come."

Harry cheered and ran over to where his godfather was standing. Sirius took one last look at the clock, one minute left.

"Okay Harry, hold on to me, and don't let go for anything, understand?"

Harry nodded enthusiastically and clutched Sirius's forearm tightly.

"Okay Harry, hear we go, now remember what I told you, don't let go…ready, 1, 2, 3!"

* * *

Narcissa wringed her hands nervously. She hoped that Sirius would take her letter seriously because if he didn't, then her one chance at saving herself and Draco was gone. However, at exactly 12:00 am, Narcissa's nervousness melted away when she saw a man with longish black hair materialize on the opposite side of the room. To her surprise, he had a young child with him.

"Sirius," She greeted happily, "I'm so glad you came."

"What's this all about?" Sirius asked immediately.

Narcissa was a bit taken aback by his abruptness, but she realized that he was probably being that way because he didn't trust her, and she didn't really expect him to anyway.

"Well…first of all, who is this?" She asked looking in the little boy's direction. There was really no need for her to ask him that though since she could tell the second she got a good look at him who he was.

"I'm sure you already know that, he's my godson Harry." Sirius answered stiffly.

"Of course," Narcissa answered softly, "He can go play with my son while we talk, they're about the same age and I'm sure they would get on splendidly. If either Sirius or Narcissa were looking at Harry at that moment, they would have seen his face contort into an expression of disgust, and a small desire to burst out laughing.

"I suppose that would be fine." Sirius answered, despite his remaining suspicions that this was a trap, something told him that it was safe to trust her.

Narcissa then called her house-elf Dobby into the room and had him take Harry into Draco's room so they could be alone to talk. Dobby obediently led Harry out of the room. Both adults missed Harry's look of sheer disgust.

* * *

'I can't believe this, I bet he's just as big a git now as he was in my time, I don't care if he's younger now, once a git always a git.'

Harry mentally ranted on and on about that the whole way. Draco's bedroom was on the next floor up a huge flight of stairs. Harry wondered why Dobby couldn't just magick them up the stairs but by the time that thought occurred to him he was too tired to ask.

'Note to self: add physical exercise to lists of things I need to learn.'

Finally, they reached the royal git's room, Dobby opened the door to reveal just as large a bedroom as Harry imagined, as well as an extreme amount of décor in silver and green. What Harry didn't expect to see was a little blonde boy on the other side of the room pressing his ear against the wall.

"Young master, you have a guest." Dobby announced.

Draco only muttered in reply. Dobby took this as a dismissal and bowed out of the room. 'Now I'm alone with Draco Malfoy, great.'

Harry noticed that Draco didn't seem to be paying attention to him and figured if he just stayed were he was and didn't make a sound, it would stay that way. But he found his curiosity beginning to get the better of him and he soon had to know just what Draco was doing. He approached him slowly; as if afraid he would startle the other boy. Once he was close enough, he kneeled down next to him.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"ssh, I can't hear," the other boy hissed.

This confused Harry for a few seconds, until he noticed something. Draco was pressing his ear against an old fashioned vent, and from it, he could hear voices, one he distinctly recognized as his godfathers'.

"It's Harry right?" Draco suddenly asked in a whisper.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Harry whispered back.

"That's what they said your name was, I'm Draco Malfoy by the way." He answered.

"…nice to meet you" Harry responded quietly, before bother boys turned their attention back to the adult's downstairs conversation.

* * *

"I'm not quite sure where to start," Narcissa said more to herself than to Sirius.

"Why don't you tell me why I'm here exactly?" Sirius drawled.

Narcissa gave him a half-hearted glare before beginning her story, "Alright, now as you already know, I was interested in Lucius long before he was in me."

"Right," Sirius answered.

"Well, my mother and father were very happy when they found out about it and immediately approved of it, Lucius finally returned my affections in fifth year and we began dating. After sixth year was over, he asked me to marry him. I said yes of course, I loved him very much and I trusted him completely, that was a big mistake."

"Why?" Sirius asked only slightly more interested.

"Well, when I agreed to marry him I was sixteen so I was still considered underage, and even though we didn't get married for another year, at the time of our engagement, I still had pretty much no say in anything involving my marriage. My parents and Lucius drew up a sort of marriage contract which pretty much defined the rest of my life after the wedding."

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.

"Well, according to the contract, I was to obey him and never tell anyone his secrets or-"

"Wait a minute!" Sirius interrupted standing up, "You mean you're basically his slave."

"No, no, not like that. Specifically it stated that whatever happened in this household stays in this household, meaning anything he tells me that he directly orders me not to repeat to anyone, I have to do it. I could tell you things that would put him in Azkaban for life, I can tell you his true allegiances, but the contract is binding and I can't, that's why I need your help." Narcissa finished

"But what can I do?" Sirius asked confused.

Narcissa rolled her eyes at him, "What can you do? You can end my marriage."

Sirius's eyes widened, "I can?"

"Well of course, now that you are out of Azkaban you are head of the Black Family, which means you have the right to disown people from the family, to add people, and to end a family member's marriage just to name a few." Narcissa explained.

"Really? Wow," Sirius commented, "Okay, so you want to end your marriage so you can tell me all about how your husband was a death eater, but I thought you loved him, why would you do that?"

Narcissa was silent, and once again she sat down and with a sad sigh, she spoke again: "I did, but ever since You-Know-Who's fall, he's been…different, he hardly ever spends time with me and when he does, we either fight or he ignores me. Plus, I'm worried that he's going to want Draco to serve You-Know-Who should he ever return, I don't want that kind of life for him. I may not be particularly fond of muggles or mud- muggleborns, but they were killing them, and that's wrong, I don't want my son to grow up like that, and hopefully if we can get Lucius sent to Azkaban that will show Draco that he chose the wrong path and maybe he'll go in the other direction."

Somehow, Sirius believed that, he was not sure why he did, but then again he was not sure what possessed him to come here in the first place. But somehow he knew that his cousin was being sincere, and he had to help her.

"Okay then," Sirius said getting up, "Let's go and get this done."

Once again, Narcissa was taken aback by her cousin's words, "What? Now?"

"Of course, when did you think we would do it, I'm sure it won't take long and your elf can watch the children while we're gone, so let's do it." Sirius answered cheerfully.

Narcissa felt much happier now then she had in quite some time. Without another questioning though, she apparated with Sirius to Gringotts to get everything finalized.

* * *

The moment the contract was broken, Narcissa felt a huge weight lift off her shoulders both figuratively and literally. She immediately told Sirius how Lucius had not been under the imperius curse (surprise surprise) and how he was in fact in You-Know-Who's inner circle.

They went to the ministry immediately and, despite attempts to stop them by a for some reason very nervous looking Minister Fudge, a group of Aurors were dispatched to the Malfoy home, were they found enough items filled with dark magic to put Malfoy in jail for life. Which is what they ended up doing, but not before Lucius (under veriteserum) named about ten other men who had not been arrested as death eaters who really did follow Voldemort under their own free will. All ten men were convicted and sentenced to life in Azkaban.

Lucius also told the Wizengamot how he had remained free all these years because of interference by Minister Cornelius Fudge and his Senior Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge, whom Lucius had been bribing for years to keep himself out of jail. Naturally, the entire British wizarding community was outraged and soon, Fudge and Umbridge were not only sacked, but arrested and sentenced to twenty years in Azkaban each.

Narcissa took back her maiden name but allowed her son to keep the name Malfoy so that he would inherit the Malfoy fortune once he came of age. However, Narcissa did not have any money of her own and could not afford a place for her Draco and Dobby (who she had been given ownership of). Sirius ended up offering to let her stay with them until she could get her own house and even though she despised the thought of living anywhere near muggles, Narcissa realized she didn't have any other options, and ended up accepting his offer.

She and Draco moved in three days later and (much to Harry relief) they were both given their own rooms.

Harry was having a hard time sleeping. It was hard for him knowing that the boy who was once his worst enemy was sleeping in the room right next to his. He did not care what Max or anyone else said. Draco Malfoy was not his friend and never would be. He couldn't even believe Sirius had invited them to stay in the first place, he thought Sirius hated them, and now he was letting them live with them. It didn't make sense.

"Well it doesn't matter," Harry said, thinking aloud, "I'm not going to start being friends with Draco Malfoy."

"That's what you think."

Harry almost jumped ten feet in the air but only managed to fall off his bed. Struggling to get up, he looked around to find where the voice had come from, he finally found him by the window. His eyes widened in shock.

"Max?"

* * *

**A/N: Yes that is a cliffhanger, sorry but I couldn't resist, I'm evil like that (Muhahahaha!). Anyway, someone asked me in a review if you can vote more than once, no. You only get one vote otherwise it wouldn't be fair. So everybody gets one vote. Here are the polls so far:**

**RAVENCLAW: 40**

**SLYTHERIN: 21**

**GRYFFINDOR: 11**

**HUFFLEPUFF: 4**

**Polls are still open so if you haven't already, be sure to cast your vote. See you later!**


	6. Good Reasons to Read the Fine Print

"Max?" Harry questioned the grim reaper in shock. He was casually leaning against the wall next to Harry's window, which was now wide open. Clearly that was how Max had gotten in, though just why he was here and what he wanted, Harry did not know nor did he think he really wanted to, but he knew he had to ask, "WH-what are you doing here? I'm not dead am I?"

"Dead?" Max rolled his eyes, "No you idiot, it's time for your monthly evaluation."

Harry was confused now, even more so since Max had said this in a tone that seemed to say 'isn't it obvious?'

"Monthly evaluation? What are you talking about?"

"What do you mean what am I talking about, you read the contract didn't you?" Max asked.

"You mean the one you made me sign? That thing was huge, and you didn't even give me a chance to read it anyway." Harry argued.

Max sighed and reached into his pocket. From it, he pulled a folded piece of paper. "Then I suggest you read this, it's only a small portion of the contract but it will explain everything, oh and a little piece of advice before I forget, next time you sign a contract, read the fine print first."

Harry took the paper from Max's hand and unfolded it. There was a lot of very small writing on it but Harry saw that one section had been circled in pen, and began to read from there.

'I, the undersigned, do accept the rights set aside for my grim reaper including but not limited to monthly evaluation's and slight interference with mine and those around me's daily lives.'

"Wait, you mean not only do you have to come here once a month you can control what me and my friends do?!" Harry asked in anger.

"Well not really, I can just put ideas in their heads, not my fault if they take them, like your godfather's idea to move into a muggle neighborhood and-"

"Wait, you did that?" Harry interrupted, "Why?"

"Well, some people still think your godfather was guilty, more so I had to get you into your soulmate environment so you can meet her earlier than you would have." Max explained.

Harry was made even more surprised by the last part, "My soulmate? You mean Hermione?"

"Of course I mean her, who else, that Weasley girl? Anyway I picked this place because she lives a few houses away, and if your become friends early, that may help you two build a stronger relationship once you get together."

"Why are you so sure that I'm going to with Hermione, I've never had any romantic feelings for her, she's like a sister to me, now Ginny-"

"Will you quit it with Ginny?" Max snapped exasperatedly, "I already told you she used a love potion on you, and even if she hadn't what kind of foundation would you two have to build a relationship on anyway? You hardly even know her."

"That is not true," Harry stated defiantly.

"Oh yeah, then tell me, what's Ginny's favorite food?"

"It's um…I don't know." Harry admitted.

"Uh huh, and what Hermione's?"

"Lemon Meringue Pie."

"What's Ginny's favorite color?"

"…I don't know that either."

"And Hermione's?"

"Red."

"What did Ginny want to do after Hogwarts?"

"…"

"Hermione?"

"She uh…she wanted to get a job at the Ministry of Magic and work towards getting better working conditions for house-elves."

"Well, would you look at that?" Max gasped sarcastically, "You know more about the girl you claim to just like as a friend than the girl you claim to be in love with."

"Okay so I know a few pointless things about Hermione, that doesn't make her my soulmate." Harry argued.

"Oh, then what makes Ginny your soulmate?"

"Well I enjoyed being around her for one." Harry stated.

"You enjoyed being around Ron too, does that mean he's your soulmate too?" Max questioned, clearly enjoying the look of disgust which crossed over Harry's face.

"We have a lot in common."

"You both play a sport and you were both possessed once, that's all, not enough."

"Well, she made me happy."

"Of course she did." Max answered, "You were under a love potion."

"WILL YOU STOP SAYING THAT?!?!" Harry shouted, momentarily forgetting that there were other people in the house.

"No I won't stop saying it because it's true." Max responded angrily, "You and Ginny aren't meant to be, you are meant to be with Hermione, and once you realize that we will be a lot better off. Now then, this discussion is over, we have other things to talk about."

"But wait a min-" Harry started, only to be interrupted.

"I said the discussion is over, now then, in the last few weeks you have managed to get your godfather pardoned and released, you've gotten away from those Dursley people, and you've gotten Narcissa Black's marriage thrown out." Max rattled off while writing on a clipboard which seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Wait, I didn't do that last one, Sirius did that." Harry said.

"I know but he couldn't have if you hadn't gotten him released, which according to the contract, makes you responsible for it." Max explained.

"Really?" Harry asked, wondering just what else the contract stated.

"Really…okay, it looks like you've been doing good so far, you've just got to stop being so cold toward the Malfoy boy and you'll be doing gre-"

"Wait a minute!" Harry interrupted, "You want me to be nice to Draco Malfoy? I don't think so."

Max sighed, clearly he was becoming even more annoyed, "Well why not? What's he done to you?"

There are some times in life when a person makes a statement that is so ridiculous and stupid, that you have to start laughing, in Harry's opinion, this was one of them.

"What is so funny?" Max asked angrily.

"Wh-what has Malfoy ever done to me? Where do I start?"

To Harry's slight surprise, Max waved that off before he even could start.

"I don't mean in your old time, I mean now. I've been watching you and I haven't seen that boy do anything except try and be friends with you."

"Try and be friends with me?" Harry repeated, "When has he ever done that?"

"Well doesn't he ask you to play with him like five times a day? And he always wants to come play with you and the other kids doesn't he?" Max asked, already knowing the answers.

Harry could not come up with an argument against that. He knew that Max was right, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Draco really hadn't been mean to him or to anyone else since he got there. Maybe he really was just trying to be friends with him.

"Harry, I'm not Draco Malfoy's grim reaper, so I don't really know what he was like in your old life, but that life doesn't even exist anymore. Don't you understand how great a gift you've received; it's not just you who gets a second chance. It's everyone around you. Sirius is out of Azkaban eight years earlier than he would have been. Lupin has his best friend back, Narcissa has her life back, and now Draco has a chance to be a better person, and he can be with your help, with you as a friend he would be steered in the right direction, and without his father around to influence him, he won't have any of those prejudices he once had. He has a second chance too Harry; I think you should give it to him."

When Max's speech ended, Harry thought about what he had said. The Draco in his time had been a horrible person, but this was a different time now, and Draco could be a different person here.

"Well," Max started pulling Harry away from his thoughts, "I think that that should just about do it, just don't kill anyone okay? Most of your friends and enemies aren't supposed to die for a while and if you do kill someone, you're out of here by the way."

"That in the contract too?"

"You got it." Max answered.

Max then moved back toward the window and climbed out while Harry looked on in confusion.

"I'll see you in a month." Max called before jumping out the window.

Harry jumped from his spot on his bed when Max did that and ran to the window, half expecting to find him splattered on the ground. But to his surprise, Harry found nothing, no indication at all that Max had been there.

'Well he is a grim reaper.' Harry thought reasonably.

With a long yawn Harry closed the window and crawled back into bed. He was asleep the second he closed his eyes.

* * *

Harry sat down at breakfast the next morning and ate his cereal while Remus and Sirius were discussing something about quidditch and Narcissa sipped a cup of coffee and read a book.

A small shuffling of feet indicating that someone had just entered the room. Harry did not have to turn around to know who it was.

Narcissa looked up from her book and smiled at her son. "Good morning Draco."

"Good morning mother." Draco answered as he sat down next to Harry and Sirius poured him a bowl of cereal.

Ten minutes later Harry and Draco were finished with breakfast and the adults excused them from the table, as they were walking out of the kitchen, Draco turned to Harry.

"Hey Harry, do you want to come play with me? I have a toy broomstick and I'll let you ride it."

Harry knew this was coming, it had happed every day just like Max said. Harry though back to last night, and to Max's words, 'He has a second chance too Harry, I think you should give it to him.'

Harry turned to the other boy and smiled, "Sounds like fun."

Draco grinned happily as the two boys ascended up the stairs.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry this chapter is so much shorter than the last few, but I promise the next one will be longer, and Hermione will finally appear, so I hope to see you next time.**


	7. Meet the Grangers

**A/N: I am deeply sorry this took so long, there are many reasons for it which I don't really want to list. Anyway, I'm sorry if this chapter is bad and that it's not much longer than the last one, I promise I am working on it. Updates will be slow since I have other stories to work on and because I want to go back and fix a few errors my wonderful reviewers have pointed out to me. One final note, the poll is still going and the results so far are:**

**Ravenclaw: 61**

**Slytherin: 31**

**Gryffindor: 20**

**Hufflepuff: 4**

**Be sure to cast your vote if you haven't already.**

* * *

Narcissa had been living in Sirius's house for several days now, and she was having an increasingly hard time adjusting. This was mainly because of the fact that the house was in a rather large muggle community and even though she didn't want the muggles and muggle-borns dead, that didn't mean she wanted to be around them all the time. She would mostly spend time in the house reading or watching her son and Harry when Sirius and Remus were gone. One day though, she made a very interesting discovery while heading up to her room.

It was a very nice day out, Harry, and Draco were outside playing and Remus had gone to get groceries, she wasn't sure what Sirius was doing. Narcissa was feeling rather bored that day, since she didn't leave the house much there was never a lot for her to do. She supposed it was better than living with a husband who didn't care about her, but she did wish she could find something to do.

She was about to walk past a slightly open door on her way to her quarters, when something caught her eye. She stopped and turned back to the open door. Slowly, she reached her hand out and pushed the door open. Walking in Narcissa saw what it was that had caught her attention. It was a very odd box-shaped thing. The front of the box was rather shiny looking and at the bottom were several buttons. She was pretty sure the muggle contraption was called a 'television', but just why Sirius had one, she didn't know. Figuring she had nothing better to do, Narcissa approached the muggle device and found a button labeled 'power'. She pushed it and recoiled in shock and the 'television' sprang to life.

On the screen she could see a group of men kicking around a white ball as if it were a game. Narcissa had never been a fan of Quidditch or any other wizard sports, so she figured she wouldn't like any muggle game either. She saw next to the power button, two buttons with arrows on them. She pushed the one going up and the image changed into one of a car exploding. Narcissa pressed it again and this time, found herself viewing a man holding a crying woman in his arms.

"I am sorry Rebecca," the TV man said in a rather dramatic, over-the-top voice, "but I am still in love with your reincarnated evil half-sister."

"Oh Joaquin!" The TV Woman sobbed.

Narcissa pulled her hand away from the arrow button and went to sit on the couch at the other side of the room. There was something about this show that she found rather…interesting.

* * *

At the same time, two young boys were outside playing football, or at least, one was trying to teach the other how to play football with little success.

"I told you Draco," Harry said for the third time that day, "It's just like Quidditch. You kick the ball with your feet, no hands, and you have to get the ball into the other teams goal, it's easy."

"I got that part," Draco replied, "This is what I don't get, you said there's a person standing in the goal who tries to stop the other team from scoring right?"

"Yeah, the goalie." Harry confirmed.

"Well how does he do it if you're not supposed to use your hands?" Draco asked.

"Oh, I meant that no one can use their hands but the goalie." Harry elaborated.

"This game is too hard," Draco said tiredly, "Can we do something else?"

"I guess what do you want then?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, my mum says we can't play quidditch 'cause of all the muggles." Draco said angrily.

Harry had to agree with him. He really did miss playing quidditch, but since he was a child again, it would be a few more years before he would be able to play a real game of quidditch again.

As the two boys were wondering what game they could play that they both knew and wouldn't disturb any of the muggles, a blue mini-van drove passed them and pulled into a driveway across the street. Harry looked up casually and watched as a man got out of the driver's side, pulled open the side door and helped a small child out of the passenger seat. Harry watched as the little girl started running around to the other side of the car as soon as her feet touched the ground. As she ran, Harry could hear her shouting, "Hermy! Hermy!"

'Hermy?' Harry thought to himself, his eyes widening, 'It couldn't be.'

"Hermy!" The girl shouted again, "Come on Hermy, were home."

From under the van, Harry could just make out a pair of legs reach the ground, and then walk towards the end of the car into full view. Harry's jaw almost dropped. He couldn't see her face very well and she was obviously much younger, but the bushy hair and the large book she seemed to be carrying were unmistakable

"Hermione?" He gasped softly, but loud enough for Draco to hear him.

"What?" He asked looking at his new friend with confusion.

Harry turned quickly toward Draco, having forgotten he was there in his shock, "Oh nothing."

Harry watched as Hermione's parents began pulling suitcases out of the trunk of their car and the young girl continued her shouts of "Hermy, Hermy!" Until Hermione finally acknowledged her.

"Kori I told you, it's 'Hermione', not 'Hermy', Her-mi-own-nee!" She enunciated.

Kori's face scrunched up in concentration, "Hermy-own, Herm-my-on, Herm…I like Hermy better."

Hermione rolled her eyes and turned away from the girl. Harry watched as she walked over to a tree in front of the house and sat down under it. She propped the large book up in her lap and started reading, while the girl called Kori continued to run around on the lawn.

"Hermione!" Her mother called, "We'll be right back, watch your sister okay?"

"Okay Mom." Hermione said briefly looking up from her book.

Harry was shocked, and he began to flashback to the night he spoke with Max, hadn't he said something about Hermione living near him? He hadn't really been paying attention to that, now he wished he had. He continued staring at her, ignoring Draco who was now watching the family as well in an attempt to see what Harry found so interesting about them. Kori continued running around having the aimless fun only a child could have, until she notice Harry and Draco watching them. She stopped and looked at them for a minute before grinning waving furiously at them.

Harry raised his hand and awkwardly waved back at the child while Draco watched, confused.

"You know her?" He asked.

"No." Harry answered truthfully, his eyes focused on the girl as another thought crossed his mind: Hermione has a sister? Why hadn't she ever told him about her?

While he was thinking this, Hermione seemed to notice that her little sister had stopped running around and looked up. Her eyes fell on Harry. Before anyone could say anything, Kori had stopped waving and darted across the street over to the two boys, her sister screaming at her in her wake. Once she was right in front of them, she stopped and began speaking at a very fast pace.

"Hi, I Kori Granger, I three and a half, who're you?"

Harry was for a moment what to say to this girl who until a moment ago, he didn't think could possibly exist, but finally he said.

"I'm Harry, and I'm se-five…this is Draco." He added when the blond boy didn't say anything.

"Kori!"

The three kids looked up to see a frustrated looking Hermione stalking towards them, "Kori, you know you aren't supposed to cross the street without a grown-up, what if a car hit you?"

"What's a car?" Draco piped up.

Hermione looked at him and studied him for a minute, "What do you mean 'What's a car?' Surely you've seen a car before, there's one over there."

She pointed at the van she and her family had just pulled up in, Draco's face lit up in understanding, "Oh, so that's what those things are."

Harry made a mental note to talk to Draco about muggle life a little later, right now all his attention was on Hermione and her sister. Hermione seemed to feel him staring at her and moved her gaze to him. For a moment she just looked at him, not saying anything, which greatly confused Harry. Then a small smile appeared on her face.

"Hello, I'm Hermione Granger, are you new here?" she asked.

"Yeah," Harry answered quickly, perhaps a little too quickly since Hermione looked a bit taken aback when he answered, "I-I'm Harry Potter, and this is Draco Malfoy."

"It's nice to meet you Harry." Hermione said holding her hand out

Harry took and they shook somewhat awkwardly. He was trying to think of something to say when suddenly Kori spoke up again.

"Wanna play hide and go seek?" She asked cheerfully.

The other three children agreed, although Draco had to be told by Harry exactly what Hide and go Seek was and how to play. He wasn't very good since it was his first time and ended up being 'it' many times that day. Eventually, Hermione's parents came out and when they saw their children on the other side of the street playing with two boys they had never seen before, they were a little upset.

"Hermione! Kori! Get over here this instant." Their mother shouted.

"Uh oh, we in trouble." Kori said giggling.

Hermione looked at Harry and said, "We have to go now."

"Sorry if I got you in trouble." Harry answered.

"It's okay, I actually had a lot of fun, and we should do it again some time." She answered.

"Yeah okay." Harry said smiling.

Hermione and Kori then walked back over to their house and Harry and Draco did the same. By then it was almost dinner time so they sat at the table and waited for the adults.

* * *

Sirius had not seen Narcissa all day and it was starting to worry him. Remus hadn't seen her either, so when dinnertime rolled around, he went around the house searching for her. Finally, he came across a door that was partially open and from inside he could hear people talking. He slowly opened the door and looked inside.

"Narcissa?" He called quietly.

She was sitting on the couch with, to Sirius's surprise, tears in her eyes. The Television he had bought for Harry was turned on and displayed a man and a woman talking.

"No Roderick!" Narcissa suddenly shouted at the screen, making Sirius jump, "Don't do it, she'll betray you again!"

"Uh…Narcissa?" Sirius asked cautiously.

She turned her head and stood up when she saw him their, "Oh, hello Sirius." She said wiping the tears from her eyes and trying to compose herself.

"…um, dinner's ready if you want to come and eat." Sirius told her.

"Alright, I'll be there in a minute," She answered and then turned her attention back to her show, where the man had just seemingly asked the woman to marry him, "Roderick!! NO!!"

Sirius walked out slowly and shut the door. Heading down the hall back to the kitchen, he muttered under his breath, "Women".


	8. Interrupting People is Rude

In the afterlife, time means nothing. Unfortunately, that's not always a good thing. A main problem being the effects that reordering time have on the Grim Reaper company that basically runs all of limbo. It is only there that time seems to matter in the land of the dead, which can make things very confusing since changing the time stream usually means people who died in the original timeline will go back and die again in the same fashion as before, unless of course their deaths are prevented by the person time was changed for.

In short, time was a confusing subject for those in limbo, and it usually meant that the Grim Reapers, while always on call whether they're in the office or not, kept extremely odd hours. Max Caldwell usually came into work at what would be 3 am in the living world. In limbo, there's no need to eat or sleep, although many employees drank excessive amounts of coffee in order to deal with the stress of their profession. How could such a job be stressful?

"NOOOO! I CAN'T BE DEAD!! I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"

Max winced as he walked past the door where the hysterical voice came from. He noticed that everybody else seemed almost oblivious to the disturbance, but figured they were all probably used to it by now, some having done this job for thousands of years. Max was a real newbie, he hadn't even been here for more than two centuries yet. He nodded at the two janitors who were currently mopping up the floor and once he was near his door, his secretary ran over with a cup of fresh coffee all ready for him.

"Here you go sir," She said smiling, "Freshly ground."

"Thanks Ellie," Max grunted before gulping down half the cup, "Do I have any messages?"

"Um yeah, I've got them right here," Ellie answered and then reached over to grab a small stack of papers from her desk, "You got a call from Craig, he says his grandmother just passed on and he needs to go meet her so you're going to have to reschedule your appointment."

Max sighed angrily, "Oh great, and I really needed him today; my back is killing me."

"How can it, you're already dead." Ellie chuckled at her joke while Max rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"What else?" He asked.

Ellie turned her attention back to the notes, "Uh let's see…Eric called, he wants to know if you're still coming to see him perform tonight."

"Alright," Answered a nodding Max, "If he calls back tell him I'll definitely be there and to say hi to Shelley for me."

"Okay then," Said Ellie mentally writing down everything he just said.

"Is that all?" Max asked.

Ellie shifted through her notes and when she found the one she was looking for, her face fell. Max stared at her in confusion.

"What is it?" he asked.

She slowly looked up to meet his gaze.

"Joe wants to see you; immediately."

* * *

'Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap.'

Max was totally screwed and he knew it. The news seemed to have traveled fast as everyone he passed stopped and gave him looks of pity. They all knew that a meeting with Joe was either a very very good thing, or a very very bad thing, and considering Max's record it was probably the latter.

As he approached Joe's door Max inwardly cursed at that stupid Potter kid for getting him into this mess. If he had been a wizard in life he would curse that boy into oblivion, that of course wouldn't do much to help the situation but at least maybe he'd feel a bit better. He was now right in front of a plain wooden door, slowly he raised his hand and after a moment's hesitation, knocked twice.

"Come in." came the voice on the other end.

With trembling fingers, Max opened the door and walked in. The office was rather colorful considering the gray color of the halls. The room was a warm shade of orange and looked like it was lit by candle instead off the old fashioned lamp on the desk. Seated on the far side was a bearded man with a warm face, although his features were currently very serious. Despite this he smiled warmly at the man before him.

"Ah Max, good to see you," He greeted the Grim Reaper, "please sit down."

Max sat down slowly in the surprisingly comfortable chair opposite his supervisor. He stared intently at the floor waiting to hear what Joe had to say.

The man in question observed Max for a few moments as his smile faded, "You're nervous aren't you?"

"No I'm not." Max answered much to quickly.

Joe smiled again, "Max it's alright. You're not being fired."

Max looked up at him, "I'm not?"

Joe shook his head, "I just wanted to talk to you about Harry Potter."

Max's stomach dropped, he knew that kid was going to be trouble for him. He hadn't even been back for more than a month now and already he'd messed everything up! Max knew that there was only one thing to do: beg for forgiveness.

"Joe, I'm sorry. I don't know what Harry did but whatever it is I had no idea he was going to mess up this badly and I-"

"Max, Max relax will you?" Joe said loudly, cutting off the other man's pleas.

Max recomposed himself and wait in anticipation for Joe to speak again.

"Harry hasn't done anything wrong yet, in fact he's been making excellent progress in fixing his life." Joe explained.

Max gave sigh of relief, which seemed to amuse Joe.

"You really thought you were in trouble didn't you?" Joe asked him, although it was really more of a statement.

Max nodded, "Yeah I just- I thought that maybe I was going to get fired this time."

Joe regarded him silently, "Max, I don't mean to go off-topic here, but have you been having some problems with the way I'm running things here?"

Max was scared now and had no idea how to answer. For all he knew this could be a trick question, or was part of some kind of weird test to make sure he was still fit for the job. If that was the case and he answered wrong…

He fought very hard to get rid of that thought knowing all it served for was to make him more agitated.

"Answer me honestly." Joe told him sincerely, sensing the dark haired man's distress.

Max knew somehow that Joe wasn't lying then, and nervously began speaking,

"W-well," he started, "I-I think that I've been treated- treated rather unfairly."

Max braced himself.

"Oh?" Joe answered simply with a peculiar look on his face.

It took several seconds for Max to realize that Joe wanted him to continue, so he gulped and started again.

"Yes, I think that you've been a bit harsh with me considering Harry's only died four or- or five times now. I mean, Alfred had that one kid from Colorado who died every other week and you never said anything about that, why me?"

Max was positive then that he'd gone to far, but once he started talking he just couldn't stop himself. Joe didn't seem mad though, in fact, he almost smiled a little.

"Max, I understand how you feel but Harry is different, he's suppose to save the world, and besides, he's not the first one to die prematurely under your watch." Joe explained calmly.

Max had an idea of what Joe was talking about and scoffed, "Oh come on, why are we bringing up that? You and I both know that rock star guy was going to snuff it sooner or later what with all the drugs he was doing I mean-"

"I'm not talking about that Max," Joe interrupted him for the second time, "You do know what day it is in the living world right?"

Max thought back for a second, last he'd checked it was March 9th on earth and that was about three days ago. His heart dropped into his stomach when he realized what that meant, and he could have kicked himself for forgetting. He looked up at Joe who was sporting the same grim expression as Max.

"That's tonight?" Max asked.

Joe closed his eyes and slowly nodded, "It is in their world."

Max brought a hand to his forehead and tried to avoid getting too upset in front of Joe. Flashes of the first time around arose from his memory and he knew that he couldn't bear to have it happen a second time. At least now that Harry was close by he could prevent it from happening again, but only if he knew how, and Max couldn't have any contact with him the next night at their monthly meeting; by then it would be too late. He just hoped the boy would remember what he told him about people dying in fires on his last visit, he had used that example for a reason.

"Max, I know this is difficult for you, but you have to watch the boy and make sure he does this right." Joe told him in a comforting voice.

Max looked up, "What can I do, I can't talk to him until tomorrow."

"I know," Joe told him, "But you can give him a few 'suggestions' on how to deal with the situation."

On 'suggestions', Joe winked at Max, who knew immediately what the bearded man was implying but that only caused him more confusion.

"I thought I used up all those 'suggestions'," Max put the same emphasis on the word so Max would know he understood, "won't the big guy get upset if I do it again?"

"Don't worry about that," Joe said waving it off, "he knows about all this, I'm sure he won't mind. Just make sure you time it just right, we don't want anyone finding out Harry's from the future."

"But in the contract it says he can tell people." Max argued with no real force behind it.

"Yes but only a certain number of people," Joe elaborated, "I think you should have read the contract a little more clearly yourself."

"That thing was huge!" Max protested.

Joe chuckled, "I know."

The phone rang cutting off their conversation. Joe gestured to Max to wait a few minutes while picking up the receiver.

"Hello?…Yes…Yes…Alright I'll be right over." He put the phone down and turned his attention back to the dark-haired man in front of him.

"I'm afraid we're going to have to cut this meeting short Max." He told him.

"Is something wrong?" asked Max.

"Yes, another premature is causing problems again," Joe explained, "They need me to help with this one. I hope to continue this meeting soon, but for now just concentrate on tonight, pay very close attention to Harry's actions throughout the day alright?"

"Yes sir." Max answered obediently.

Joe gave him one last smile as the two walked out of the office, down the hall, and then parted ways down a split corridor. Max went left and headed for the elevators. All he wanted to do now was go relax in his office, but he knew that all he'd be able to think about was that day when she had come in, looking so lost. The first thing she'd done is ask him where her mother was, and just thinking about her tear filled eyes when she realized she wasn't going to see her mother again for some time, it just broke Max's heart.

"Potter you'd better not screw this up." Max muttered to himself as the elevator doors opened on his floor.

Ellie looked rather surprised to see him. She like everyone else had probably assumed that Max was getting fired and so it was no shock to him that she almost dropped the papers she was carrying.

"Get me some more coffee," He told her as he passed her by, "Black."

"Is everything alright Max?" Ellie asked sounding worried.

Max rounded on her angrily, "Does it look like everything's alright?"

Ellie, being much shorter than Max shrank down to avoid his gaze. After a moment though her fear was replaced by anger as well,

"You've got some nerve talking to me like that," She told him, "I don't know what's upsetting you but what-"

"Oh you don't know what's upsetting me huh?" Max said loudly causing passer-bys to stare, "Do you have any idea what day it is down there?"

"I-" Ellie began before it clicked in her mind, and her face fell, "Oh my- Is it that day already?"

Max solemnly nodded. His anger fading, "I can't believe it either…good thing he decided to go back so far, hopefully he can prevent this."

Ellie knew how Max must have been feeling and so she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Max, have faith in the boy," She told him, "I mean, it's like Hermione said, he has a hero thing, he won't let it happen again."

"But he doesn't even know about it," Max said, "he won't find out until it happens, and then it might be too late."

"Max, you just have to believe that Harry will save her, I believe he will." Said Ellie.

There was something about Ellie's way of speaking that made it hard not to listen to her. Whenever she offered Max words of advice he always felt better, and this time was no different.

"Thanks Ellie, I'm sure you're right." He smiled as convincingly as he could.

She seemed to accept that and turned away to get the coffee her boss requested, while he tried to push the thoughts of that night from his head. Unfortunately, they were replaced by another, almost equally terrifying notion.

"Ellie!" He called out.

The young woman in question turned, "What is it?"

"What year is it on earth right now?" He asked urgently.

"What year?" She repeated while trying to think of the answer, "It's uh…it's 1986, why?"

Max slapped his hand to his forehead and groaned, "Oh no, oh no!"

"What's wrong now?" The secretary asked, approaching him.

"Don't you realize what this means?" He asked her.

She shook her head.

"It means we're going to have to deal with that stupid, drug-addled, metal head again!" Max complained.

This time Ellie's face cracked into a smile and she giggled, remembering the first time that man had come in.

"Oh come on Max," she said cheerfully, "He wasn't so bad. Actually, I thought he was kind of cute."

Max looked up at her, now extremely annoyed, "Didn't I asked for some coffee?"

Ellie shook her head and giggled more, "Alright I'm getting it."

When she was gone Max sighed and got back up and went into his office. Once there the thoughts of the girl came rushing back and he felt a huge weight in his stomach. He slumped into his chair and closed his eyes. Ellie brought him his coffee a few minutes later and left quickly, sensing that he wanted to be alone.

After finishing the whole cup Max stood and walked slowly to his window. Pulling back the curtains he saw not a cloudy scene or anything that indicated he was viewing limbo, but a quarter screen view of four sleeping children. On the top right was a bushy haired girl gripping a large book in her hands sleeping peacefully. Below her was a blond boy currently not enjoying as sound a sleep. Every now and then he would let out a childish cough, as he was suffering a cold. On the left were the boy and girl in question. The girl, much younger than the other three slept silently with a pink teddy bear under her arm. Max lightly touched the image of her as a single tear fell from his eyes.

For a moment he gazed at his other charge, the one that had already caused him more trouble than any other premature he'd had since he started here combined. Then his eyes shifted to the older girl who was turning over in her sleep, the book falling onto the floor.

"You'd better be right about that hero thing kid."

* * *

**A/N: Okay, this didn't take as long, so that's good. I'm sure you all can figure out what's going to happen though, and I know it's kind of clichéd, but trust me it's going to be very important later and not for the reasons you might think (although it will be significant for those reasons too). Anyway, I hope all of you liked this chapter, and I hope you got a least some of the various TV/Movie/People references in this chapter. So give me a nice birthday present and review. See you later.**


	9. The Butterfly Effect

**A/N: All I can really say is I'm sorry…(breaks down) FORGIVE ME!!**

* * *

Sirius rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he entered the kitchen. He grabbed the coffee grinds from the pantry and took out his wand. Five minutes later he had a steaming cup of coffee. He took a long sip and sat down at the kitchen table waiting for the other occupants of the house to wake up.

An owl suddenly flew through the window, dropped an envelope in front of Sirius and flew back out. Unfazed Sirius picked up the letter, saw that it was for Remus and threw it back on the table not giving it a second thought until the man in question wandered down the stairs.

"You have mail." Sirius told him while Remus began making his own coffee.

Remus turned to his friend and saw the parchment envelope in front of him. He walked over and picked it up curiously. Inside was another piece of parchment again addressed to him he looked down at the signature and his face cracked into a grin. Sirius noticed his friend's expression and raised an eyebrow.

"Who's it from?" He asked.

Remus looked up at him, "It's from Valerie."

Sirius stared at him incredulously, "Valerie Pruitt? Lily's old friend?"

"Who else?" Remus answered.

"Why would she be writing us? And how does she even know where we live?" Sirius asked, sounding rather annoyed at being contacted by their old friend.

Remus suddenly became nervous, "Well…actually I um, I sent her a letter two days ago."

Sirius's eyes narrowed, "And why didn't you tell me?!"

"Because I knew you'd make a big deal out of it like you are now." Remus answered shortly while getting the coffee grinds to make his own cup.

Sirius stood, "Well of course I am, have you forgotten that she hates me?"

"She doesn't hate you," Remus told him matter-of-factly.

"Then why did she throw pumpkin juice at me during graduation if she doesn't hate me?" Sirius ranted angrily.

Despite his friend's anger, Remus remained calm, "Because you tried to grope her as she walked by."

"I told you that wasn't me!" Sirius cried almost childishly, "It was that Boot guy, he used to hit on every girl at school."

"You know what Padfoot it doesn't matter anyway, that was years ago," Remus said still in his calm voice, "and I contacted her because I thought she would want to see Harry, she is his godmother after all."

Sirius scoffed, but didn't say anything else since at that moment Draco and Harry came bounding down the stairs with Narcissa in their wake. As everyone sat down to have breakfast, Sirius watched Harry as he ate and talked to Draco, who was getting over a cold. For the last few days Sirius had felt like there was something…off about his godson. On the outside he looked like an average five-year-old with not a care in the world, but there was something in his eyes.

During the war, Sirius had seen many people who had lost friends, family members and had to witness it all. They sometimes seemed to move in a daze and their eyes had an almost dead look to them, like they had seen too much too soon. That was how Harry looked at times, and it gave Sirius chills and made him suspicious at the same time.

After they had eaten the two boys ran outside to go play with the two girls from across the street that they'd made friends with several weeks ago. Even though Sirius knew Narcissa didn't like muggles, he could tell she was happy her son was friends with some because it showed that he wasn't becoming like his bastard of a father.

The two girls, Hermione and Kori they were called, had been coming over almost everyday since they first met Harry and Draco. Sirius found it a little odd that two boys at that age would be so eager to play with girls. Harry seemed especially fond of Hermione, though she usually just sat on the porch with her nose in a book (which surprised Sirius since some of the stuff she read seemed far too advanced for such a young girl) while her younger sister was more hyper and easily entertained.

Still, they were obviously happy with their new friends so Sirius didn't think much of it. His thoughts concerning the two boys were almost always on Harry, and just what was going on in that boy's head.

* * *

At around 11 pm earth time, Max was in his office and on his eighth cup of coffee. Normally he would have gone home by now but tonight was different, he knew he would be called in if he left and he didn't want to anyway.

He had moved his office chair to rest in front of his window where he could see four small children preparing for bed. Hermione Granger was in the bathroom brushing her teeth, while two doors down, her little sister was safe in bed, being lulled to sleep by the soft sounds of her father's voice as he told her a story.

Draco Malfoy was already asleep, but Harry was another story. The boy was sitting up in his bed clearly still wearing his day clothes. Max figured that Harry'd remembered that the reaper would visit him every month and knew that tonight was the night of their next meeting, which would explain why he was still dressed.

Max sighed and massaged his temples, if he weren't dead he would swear he felt a headache coming on.

"Ellie!" He called out to his secretary, "I need more coffee."

"Be right there." She answered from the other room.

Max slumped in his chair and look at the clock on the left hand side of the screen. It was almost time now.

* * *

At the same time on earth, Harry was also watching the clock intently. His arms crossed over his chest and his patience wearing thin. Where the hell was he? Tonight was the night right?

Harry sighed angrily while tapping his foot against the blanket. Ten more minutes passed and Max still hadn't arrived. Harry's eyelids began to feel heavy but he struggled to stay awake. Finally though, his patience ran out and he decided that for whatever reason, Max wasn't coming that night.

Silently cursing the Grim Reaper for keeping him up so late, Harry crawled under the covers. Before he could settle down to sleep however, he noticed something through the sliver of window uncovered by his drawn curtains. The streetlights shown as brightly as they would any other night, but in addition to them was some kind of glow. Slowly, Harry got up out of bed and approached the window. He reached up and drew back the curtains, his heart stopping as he took in the scene.

Across the street and several houses down, Harry had a clear view of Hermione's house…and it was on fire. Harry stood completely still for a split second before tearing out of his room screaming for Sirius and Remus.

By the time he got outside several other neighbors were already on the scene and he could hear someone shouting abut calling the fire department. He was about to run towards the house but suddenly a hand reached out to hold him back. Looking up he could see it was Narcissa holding him and Sirius and Remus were running past them.

"Stay back!" Sirius shouted at them over his shoulder.

Harry's mind screamed at him to run after his godfather, but instead stood rigid in Narcissa's grasp.

'This can't be happening.' He repeated to himself over and over again. Hermione could not die tonight, she couldn't die any night. What could have happening to cause this? His mind spinning, Harry began to wonder if maybe this was his fault. What if his coming back and making all these changes had somehow caused this to happen. He remembered Hermione once telling him about this time travel theory that the mere presence of a time traveler could have drastic effects on the time stream.

But if that was true, why hadn't Max warned him about it, it seemed pretty important. Unless he'd figured that Harry already knew that, which didn't make much sense either. Harry could feel a slight headache coming on from the array of thoughts racing through his head but he didn't care, all he could focus on was the incinerating house that was once his very best friend's home. Sirius and Remus were racing toward the door when suddenly it burst open and Mr. and Mrs. Granger ran out. In Mr. Granger's arms Harry spotted a brown bush that he knew to be Hermione, and relief washed over him.

It wasn't until he noticed Mrs. Granger fighting against Sirius, who was attempting to pull her away from the blaze, trying desperately to get back into the house that Harry realized Hermione was the only child her father had brought out. With that thought in mind Harry's legs finally started to obey him and he ripped himself from Narcissa's grasp, ignoring her screams as he ran for the Granger home. Upon approach he could just make out Mrs. Granger's screams over the sounds of the fire.

"I HAVE TO GO BACK!!" She shrieked, becoming hysterical, "MY BABY'S STILL IN THERE! WE COULDN'T GET TO HER!!"

'Kori!' Harry screamed mentally as everything began to make sense, he didn't know about Hermione's sister because she had died in this fire. Hermione had probably been so traumatized by it, it was no wonder she never mentioned Kori. But then Harry thought, maybe it was meant to be. Maybe, like Max had once told him, it was just her time to go. Perhaps this fire was suppose to happen and Kori was meant to die here. Maybe, just maybe, this was fate.

If that was true, then fate could go fuck itself.

Harry raced around the one story house searching for Kori's room. He had only seen it once before when he and Draco were over at the house for dinner and so he was not entirely sure where it was. Eventually, he reached a window low enough for him to look through and past the roaring flames, Harry could make out a small form curled up on a bed.

"KORI!!" He shouted.

The figure on the bed did not move, most likely she was either unconscious from the flames or paralyzed with fear. In the background Harry could hear Mrs. Granger's continuing screams of Kori's name. The fire was growing ever larger and the sounds of sirens were quickly filling the air. Harry knew however that they would arrive too late to save the child. With that thought Harry's adrenaline pumped up and his mind shut off. Harry raised his wand arm and felt his magic growing.

"ACCIO KORI!!" He shouted.

To his shock, the small child lifted into the air and raced toward him narrowly missing the flames. The next thing Harry knew, he was on the ground with the wind knocked out of him and Kori's unmoving body laying on top of him. Within a few seconds she was pulled off of him by what looked like Sirius and Remus was helping him up. Mrs. Granger was sobbing over her youngest daughters body and her, Hermione sat in a fetal position, staring up at her destroyed home until she was once again scooped into her father's arms. Harry was similarly grabbed by Remus (despite his annoyance since he could still walk just fine) and the group fled from the scene.

The firemen had already begun the task of putting the fire out while paramedics ran towards the Granger family.

"My daughter!" Mr. Granger called to them, "She's not breathing, I think she inhaled too much smoke."

Harry's heart dropped.

* * *

"Max!" Ellie called from her small cubicle office.

Max burst out of his office quick as a flash, "What? What is it?"Ellie looked heartbroken, "She's just arrived."

Max paled, a horrible feeling of dread settling in his stomach. 'No not again, this wasn't suppose to happen again.'

Slowly, the reaper nodded his head and with zombie like movements, walked down the hall to meet the young soul.

Max instinctively lifted his hands up to his eyes in order to avoid to blaring light. Looking down he noticed that like most souls, the small girl in front of him was unfazed by it. She looked up at Max with big brown eyes and cocked her head to the side.

"Who're you?" She asked innocently.

Max could've cried, "I- I'm Max."

"Where's my mommy Max?"

'Just like last time.' He though miserably as he regarded the transparent girl. Wait, transparent.

Max stared at her in shock. That was not suppose to happen, deceased souls were always suppose to be solid upon fully leaving their mortal bodies unless…

Happiness and relief flooded through Max and he knelt down to the child's level. Slowly he brought his hand up to touch her shoulder, gently turning her away from the light.

"Do you see that long tunnel right there?" He asked her.

"Uh huh."

"Well," Max explained, "If you follow that tunnel, it'll take you back to your mommy."

Her face lit up, "You promise?"

"I promise." Max answered with a smile.

Kori grinned, "Okay, bye bye Max."

With that, the small brunette took off through the tunnel and in a flash, vanished. Max rigidly stood back up and all but ran back to his office. It was time to visit Potter.

* * *

"We've got a pulse!" A medic screamed.

Mrs. Granger gave a sob of relief and tightened her grip on her husband, who looked equally relieved.

"We still need to take her to the hospital and make sure there's no damage to her lungs." Another medic told the Grangers.

They nodded silently and entered the ambulance with Hermione in tow. Originally, they had wanted her to stay behind at Harry's house but the bushy haired girl was determined to remain by her sisters side as long as she was ill.

Sirius tagged along for emotional support and because he had grown rather fond of Kori in the short time he'd known her. Harry watched them load the three year old into the ambulance and wondered just what repercussions his actions would have on the future. Whatever happened, Harry would deal with it. He could not change what had happened now nor did he want to.

He was feeling rather satisfied with himself until he felt a chill go down his spine. He glanced upward to meet with his godfather's hard gaze that clearly said 'I don't trust you.'

'Oh crap, he saw.' Harry thought silently.

The two stared at each other for not a second longer before Sirius was pulled into the ambulance and the door shut.

Harry walked silently back to his room, ignoring Remus and Narcissa's shaken good nights and a now awake Draco's questions of what had happened.

Harry was not surprised when he entered his room to find Max waiting for him and so did not acknowledge him until he was comfortably seated on top of his bed.

"Well Potter, you did a good job back there," Max stated, "Even though you did almost screw up."

Harry ignored the last part, "Why didn't you tell me Hermione's sister was going to die? In fact, why didn't you tell me Hermione had a sister in the first place?"

"It wasn't my place to tell," Max shrugged, "Besides, you were obviously going to find out anyway."

"She almost died tonight," Harry spat out angrily, "Did you know that too?"

Max's eyes narrowed, "Don't talk to me like that, I was fully aware that Kori Granger was in danger tonight. She's one of my other charges after all."

"So if you knew then I ask again," Harry said with a hard voice, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I honestly didn't remember how soon it would happen," Max answered, his shoulders slumped, "Believe me I would have told you if I did."

At that, Harry lost his temper.

"WELL THEN YOU ALMOST GOT HER KILLED TONIGHT!!" Harry screamed.

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?!" Max shouted back, "It tore me up when she came in last time. It always does when they're that young."

Harry took a deep breath to calm himself, "So last time it didn't go like this."

"Obviously not." Max answered before pulled a folded newspaper out of his jacket, "Read this."

Harry took it from the reaper and stared at it, "A newspaper?"

"Read the headline," Max told him, "This paper would have come out about two days from now had you not did what you did."

Harry's eyes scanned the headline and then the rest of the article. With every word he felt the bile rush to his throat faster.

HOUSE FIRE DEVISTATES SUBURBAN FAMILY.

Last Tuesday night, the home of local dental practitioners Alan and Sandra Granger caught fire due to a faulty outlet. The Drs. Granger, both 34, along with their eldest daughter Hermione, aged 5, escaped the blaze with only minor injuries. However, fireman were unable to rescue the couples youngest daughter 3 year old Kori, and the child perished.

The surviving family were rushed to-

Harry couldn't go further. He threw the newspaper back at Max and stared aimlessly out the window at the charred and smoking remains of the Granger household.

"So, obviously this changes things now." Harry stated more than asked.

Max nodded, "Well so did clearing your godfather and Narcissa divorcing Malfoy. Harry, your mere presence here changes things, ever hear of-"

"The Butterfly Effect." Harry finished, not taking his eyes from the scene outside, "I know, Hermione told me."

Max nodded, "Not surprising."

Harry sighed, "So was it her time or not?"

"Not." Max answered immediately, "But it's like I told you, if they don't have a body to return to, they can't go back."

"…so then what?" Harry suddenly asked.

Max stared, confused, "then what…what?"

Harry rolled his eyes, "What happens if a person dies before their time and can't come back?"

Max clicked his tongue, "Interesting question," He commented, "Well I was going to have to discuss this with you anyway. You see…"

Max trailed off, trying to figure out the best way to explain this to the boy wizard. He knew that Harry would probably not like the answer, no one ever did.

"…Okay Harry, I want you to picture an old lady."

"What?" Harry asked in a 'are-you-kidding-me?' tone.

Max waved his question off, "Just go with me here, imagine an old lady in the hospital okay? She's seventy years old and she's had a family with children and grandchildren. She lived a long, full life and now her only link to this world are the life support machines they have her hooked up to.

Her husband has already gone on and her children have decided to take her off the life support and let her die in peace. You following?"

"Yeah." Harry answered slowly, not sure where this was going.

"Okay good," Max said approvingly, "Now picture for me a young boy of six miles away from this old woman. He's in perfect health and he's outside playing catch with his father. Now Harry what I want you to do is picture that old lady in the hospital and the six year old boy and tell me, who do you think is about to die?"

'Rather morbid.' Harry silently commented, but aloud he said, "The old lady, right?"

Max nodded, "In most cases yes. She's lived her life, she's probably made peace with the fact that she's going to die, it's her time. But, the big man when he created man had the brilliant idea of giving him a little thing called free will, and in most cases yeah, free will's great. However, it is also the cause of many premature deaths and in this case, overdue ones.

What if the old woman's children changed their minds at the last minute and refused to have their mother's life support terminated, she's going to live another day. But she was suppose to die, and now she won't. That's a problem."

Harry listened carefully, but wasn't sure he understood, "But, it's just one person, what damage could one person do?"

"A lot more than you think." Max informed him, "There's such a thing called 'the balance'. It's how the big man maintains order in the universe. But believe it or not, one soul that dies at the wrong time can disrupt that balance, and if the balance deteriorates to far…bad things happen."

"What kind of bad things?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, no one does, be thankful for that." Max answered vaguely, "But my point is this, because the old woman did not die, the balance is disrupted, and like I said that's bad. So obviously something has to happen in order to fix that balance. So that six year old boy I told you about? Well, he's going to throw the ball wrong and it's going to roll off into the street, and he's going to run after it despite his father's warnings. He's going to run into the street to get that ball, and a truck is going to come by. By the time he sees the boy however, it'll be too late and…"

Harry's eyes widened as he realized what Max was getting at. Once again he felt sick and now a bit faint.

"Are you serious?" He whispered.

Max sighed, "Look I know how it sounds but it's not so ba-"

"Not so bad?" Harry interrupted, "NOT SO BAD? YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT IF ONE PERSON GETS TO LIVE ANOTHER HAS TO DIE? AND IT COULD BE A CHILD? THAT'S NOT FAIR! THAT'S-"

"Life isn't fair Harry." Max said calmly for once, "We've already had this discussion, and as I was saying before you so rudely interrupted me, when that happens the souls are given the opportunity to reincarnate and live again. So even if it's a young soul they still get a chance at life if they want one."

Once again, Harry took a deep calming breath and relax against his pillow, "Did Kori go back the first time?"

Max shook his head, "I can't tell you that, but it doesn't really matter anyway. The future you came from is gone."

Harry looked up at this, "Gone?"

"Well yeah," Max answered, "This isn't like going back in time with a time-turner. That's like rewinding a video cassette tape when you do that. What we did was like erasing the video. Basically, we erased your future. We erased the whole universe's future."

Harry was shocked, "You can do that?"

Max rolled his eyes, "No, no we can't. This is God we're talking about Harry, he can do anything. Not that the decision was come to lightly. Took them forever to decide whether or not to make you that offer."

Harry shook his head, "It can't have been that long, I was only dead for a little while when I met you."

Max opened and closed his mouth, "Well actually, you were dead for a lot longer than you think. We had your soul in a sort of…suspended animation while the big man deliberated."

Harry, not for the first time that night, couldn't believe what he was hearing, "How long may I ask?"

A beat. "You may," Max answered, "And about fifty years, earth time."

"FIFTY YEARS?!"

"Hey, this was a big decision." Max bit back, "You think this only concerned you? No. As I said last time you're not the only one with a second chance here, everyone in the world does and that includes any people who died between those 62 years before now. They all had to be informed that they could potentially be returning to earth soon and don't even get me started on the reincarnates. Arranging this was a bigger headache than World War II was. You hear that Potter? We distorted time and space and turned the whole universe upside-down, all for you. So feel special!"

Harry immediately quieted down. He had noticed that Max was rather scary when he got angry and plus, he was getting too tired to argue.

"So what happens now, now that Kori is alive I mean?" Harry asked, getting back on the subject.

Max quickly calmed down, "Well since she wasn't suppose to die, her death originally meant someone else who was suppose to die did not. Now that Kori's alive, someone probably isn't going to see tomorrow."

Harry sighed, "Is it wrong that I feel relieved right now?"

"As long as your relief is strictly related to Kori's survival, then no." Max replied with a rare smile, "And don't be too concerned about that other soul, if I'm right you won't feel too bad about her death."

Harry looked up, "Why, who is it?"

Max smirked, "You'll see."

Harry nodded, then remembered something Max had said earlier, "So how does that whole balance thing relate to me?"

Max blinked, "What?"

"You said that you were going to have to tell me about it anyway, so why is that." Harry elaborated.

Max nodded in understanding, "Oh that, well-"

The Grim Reaper was suddenly interrupted by a loud beeping sound. Max reached into his pocket and pulled out a beeper. He glanced at the screen and again smirked.

"Sorry Harry, duty calls, I'll explain everything next time okay?"

Before Harry could answer, Max stood and in two long strides climbed up on the window sill. He was about to step out when he suddenly turned his head back to Harry.

"Oh and before I forget," He said, "I'd advise you to get that whole wandless magic thing in order."

Harry stared at him, "Wandless magic?"

"Well yeah," Max answered, "How did you think you saved Kori, you didn't use an invisible wand to cast that summoning charm did you?"

"Bu- but-" Harry sputtered.

"Like I said," Max spoke loudly over his young charge, "Next month."

Max turned back around and quickly jumped out the window back to limbo, leaving a very confused and exhausted Harry Potter in his wake.

Since Max left the curtains open, Harry could see that the sun had already risen and he could hear the sounds of talking from outside his door. Harry groggily crawled back under the covers and closed his eyes for a well deserved sleep.

BANG!

Or so he thought.

Harry shot up immediately and came face to face with Sirius Black, whose expression for once went along with his name. Sirius regarded the boy for a moment before closing the door and drawing his wand. Harry flinched, thinking he was going to aim it at him, but instead Sirius pointed it at the door and muttered a spell to make sure no one disturbed them. He then turned his attention back to the Boy-Who-Lived.

"We need to talk." Sirius stated.

'Ah crap.'

* * *

Remus gulped down his coffee in one swig, then poured himself another. Last night had been rough. Upon returning home Sirius informed him that Kori was in a stable condition and apart from some minor burns would be okay.

He was happy to hear that but still felt pity for the poor parents. What they must be going through, almost losing their child. Remus didn't know what he would do if anything ever happened to Harry.

A swooshing noise from the window informed the werewolf that the Daily Prophet had arrived. He paid the owl and briefly scanned the front page before throwing it back on the table, he wasn't particularly interested in the wizarding news at the moment. Had he been he might have felt a bit of shock at the main article.

FORMER SENIOR UNDERSECRETARY FOUND DEAD

Early this morning, a ministry official was doing inspections of the Azkaban prison. Upon entering former senior undersecretary to the minister of magic Dolores Jane Umbridges cell, he was shocked to find her dead of an apparent heart attack. The body has been moved to an undisclosed location, but no further information is known at this time.

* * *

**A/N: That's right folks, Dolores Umbridge has died of a mysterious heart attack. (looks around with shifty eyes and hides Death Note behind back) I had absolutely nothing to do with it.**

**Anyway I hope you enjoyed this (long overdue) installment of 'In Time.'**

**Review please!**


	10. FML

***Unfortunately, Artemis Day cannot be here to write an author's note as she is locked in her bomb shelter cowering in fear of the readers angry at her for taking over a year to update. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope you enjoy the chapter anyway.***

******

One could call a Death Eater many things, as Sirius well knew. What thing you couldn't call them however, was stupid. Sure, there were those such as Crabbe and Goyle who had both obviously been dropped on their heads numerous times as children, but no Death Eater was truly senseless. They couldn't afford to be, because one mistake, one wrong move would mean almost certain death; either at the hands of the enemy or Voldmort himself. With this in mind, Sirius couldn't help but wonder how this particular death eater had made such a careless mistake.

Sirius of course, didn't know for sure that 'Harry Potter' was really a death eater in disguise, but at the moment that was the only explanation he had for a five year old child not only knowing but flawlessly (and wandlessly) preforming a summoning charm of that caliber.

Sirius couldn't believe his ears when he heard the charm being spoken. He knew there was something up with 'Harry', but this…

And if this really was a Death Eater in disguise, how had he remained hidden for so long, and where was the real Harry?

The latter question brought about horrible mental images that Sirius struggled to push away.

And anyway, the first question was the important one right now. At first Sirius wondered if maybe the Death Eaters had somehow found a way to brew a longer lasting polyjuice potion, but that seemed far too unlikely. He thought perhaps some sort of ancient magic ritual had been used, but that too sounded far fetched.

So at the moment, Sirius was at a loss for an explanation. That however, was not going to stop him from confronting the 'boy' the second he got home.

And so, as soon as he heard that little Kori was going to live, he quickly (but not before embracing the overjoyed parents and wishing them a good night) left the hospital and apparated home.

It was early moring by then, so Sirius knew everyone would be asleep. Stopping only to grab remove his coat, Sirius walked briskly down the hall, his eyes locked on the space across from him as he mentally prepared himself for what was about to happen. Soon enough, he was in front of 'Harry's' door and without hesitating, open the door and walked in.

**

'Ah crap.' Harry swore in his mind.

He had never seen Sirius look so…well, serious. He did not put his wand away and his stance gave away his intention to attack if given a reason. Harry sat still in his bed, not saying anything as he mentally calculated his options.

Clearly, Sirius had seen Harry cast the Summoning Charm, he would not be doing this otherwise. With no idea what to do, Harry resorted to just playing dumb.

"Sirius?" He ask in his best 'innocent' voice, "What's goin' on? Why are you-"

"Shut up." Sirius interrupted him.

Harry noted that Sirius, for an arrogant, somewhat goofy prankster, was emiting a rather dark aura all of a sudden. He figured it was probably the Black in him surfacing.

It only served to further freak Harry out when his Godfather did something very unexpected.

He smiled.

Harry struggled to maintain eye contact as Sirius placed his wand down next to him and clasped hands together.

"So," He started, "We had a fun night last night, didn't we?"

Harry wasn't quite sure how to answer that, "Sirius-"

"Don't talk." Was all the aforementioned man had to say. "You know, I've seen a lot of crazy shit in my day, but I think that's the only time I've seen a five-year-old child with no known magical training not only cast a summoning charm, which by the way is fourth year magic at Hogwarts, but do so wandlessly and with enough power to move another small child. I'm sure then that you can imagine what this has led me to believe."

Harry sighed, no use denying it now, "I'm not a Death Eater if that's what you think."

Sirius gasped, "You're not?! Oh my goodness I am SOO sorry. I actually thought you WERE one, but now that you have told me you're not, I have SEEN THE LIGHT!! Because obviously just saying you're not a Death Eater is enough for me to believe EVERYTHING you have to say to me from here on in, isn't that right?"

"Do you have to be so sarcastic?" Harry deadpanned.

"Well do you honestly think I'm that stupid?" Sirius countered, "Now unfortunately I don't for sure that you're a Death Eater but at the moment, I can think of no other explanation since you are clearly not Harry Potter."

"And how do you know that?" Harry asked, putting his glasses back on, "What if I told you I was Harry Potter?"

"I wouldn't believe you." Sirius answered immediately.

Harry nodded, "Yes I can see that, but what if I had an explanation for how I knew that charm?"

"I wouldn't believe you." The other man reiterated.

"Even if my answer was logical and made sense?"

"I can think of no logical explanation for what you did." Sirius explained in a bored tone, "If you had gotten ahold of one of mine or Remus's books, read about the spell, but couldn't perform it, that wouldn't be suspicious. All it would show is that you can read at an advanced level like Hermione Granger can. The fact that you performed it perfectly and without a wand to focus your magic- to me, there is no explanation other than you not actually being a child, and therefore, not Harry Potter."

"Well…" Harry trailed off, unsure if he should continue and tell Sirius the truth.

'Well, Max did say I could.'

What that in mind, Harry sighed and continued, "You're only half right. I am not really a child, or at least my mind isn't. I am Harry Potter though, that I swear to you."

Sirius raised an eyebrow, "Oh, you swear, do you?"

Harry mentally cursed, clearly that wasn't enough for Sirius, "Yes, I do."

Sirius smirked, "Yeah, I bet you'd swear on your life and magic if you could. Unfortunately, the real world doesn't work like that kid."

Harry looked down at his feet, "So what do you want from me then?"

"Nothing." Sirius answered, "At the moment I don't know what to think of you. So, until I know for sure whether you're really Harry or not, you will not be leaving this room."

Harry's eyes widened, "What?! You can't keep me in here!"

Sirius smiled evilly, "On the contrary, I can. See when I locked the door just now, I didn't just lock it, I also placed wards over over the door as well as the window that will prevent you from getting out, and anyone except me from getting in."

The black haired boy couldn't believe what he was hearing, "What about Remus and Narcissa, they won't allow you to do this!"

"Of course they will, once they find about our little conversation." Sirius replied, "I'm sure Remus especially will be very eager to talk to you if you do turn out to be a Death Eater. There's a full moon on Thursday by the way."

Harry just stared at the older man, "You're acting very dark right now."

"That's an interesting accusation coming from you." Sirius shot back.

"You're really dead set on this Death Eater thing, aren't you?"

"Yep."

With that, Sirius grabbed his wand and made to leave.

"Can't you at least hear me out?" Harry called after him.

"I told you," Sirius turned away from the door, "I don't believe anything you have to say to me."

"But I'm telling you the truth, I am Harry Potter, I was sent back in time by-" Harry's mouth slammed shut.

Harry tried in vain to unlock his lips while Sirius just stared incredulously, "Back in time, you say? Now you're just grasping straws."

"I'm serious!" Harry shouted, finding his voice again.

"Uh-huh." Sirius said, clearly not listening anymore. "I'll bring you soon food later and you can leave only to use the bathroom, under my supervision of course. Until then, have a nice day!"

With a fake cheerful wave, Sirius left the room, slamming the door behind him. Harry did nothing but stared at the door, trying to make sense of what had just happened. With a groan, he gave up and fell back on the bed.

"This SUCKS!"

**

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

Each time she heard it Ellie winced. Getting all the filing done was becoming steadily harder as the banging continued.

"Hey Ellie!" She heard a cheerful male voice say. The redhead looked up and, despite everything, smiled happily at the man before her.

He was fairly tall, only a few inches shorter than Max. Unlike Max however, this man had a much more easygoing look to him, his red hair messy underneath his brown hat. He wore a brown Zoot Suit making him look like someone straight out of the 1920's.

"Hey Rob," Ellie greeted him, "What's up?"

"I was just looking for Max, is he in?"

BANG!

"Yep." Ellie answered, her eyes on the door.

Rob raised an eyebrow, "Sounds like he's stressed."

"You don't know the half of it." Ellie answered.

Rob grinned, "Looks like it's up me then! Rob Connor, Grim Reaper extrodinare, to cheer our dear friend Max up!"

Ellie, though she knew this wouldn't end well at all, followed Rob through the door to find her boss slamming his head against repeatedly against his desk, thereby achieving the banging sounds she'd been hearing.

BANG!

BANG!

"Maxie! How's it going buddy?" Rob cried happily, either oblivious to or ignoring the death glare Max proceeded to send him. On the bright side, he had stopped banging his head.

"I thought I told you never to call me that."

Rob pouted, "Maxie, you're hurting my feelings!"

"Max, what's wrong?" Ellie asked, clearly worried about her boss.

"It's that idiot Potter." Max spat the name like it was a curse, "It turns out, thanks to his carelessness, Sirius Black saw him do the summoning charm and now he's practically keeping him hostage!"

"Hostage?" Rob answered, shocked, "Seriously?"

Max nodded, "Yeah, apparently he can be very evil when he wants to be."

"Well, he is a Black." Ellie commented.

Both men nodded in agreement.

"But if all Harry has to do is explain everything, what's the problem?" Rob asked.

"That's the thing," Max started to explain, "He can't. I just reread the part of the contract that deal with telling people and it turns out he can only tell them that he is from the future. He can't tell him about Grim Repears or Limbo or anything."

Ellie blinked, "So how's he supposed to make them believe him?"

"NOW YOU SEE THE PROBLEM HERE!!" Max screamed suddenly, causing his secretary and friend to jump back.

"So, he can't tell anyone about us?"

Max shook his head, "Nobody but his Soulmate, Hermione."

After that, the three silently pondered this, until Ellie once again spoke up, "Well, I know he's gotten himself in a bit of a fix, but I'm sure Harry will find a way out of this."

Rob grinned again, "Yeah man, Ellie's right. And anyway, look on the bright side, Kori Granger is alive thanks to what Harry did."

Max sighed and smiled slightly, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Of course I am, I'm always right!" Rob smugly declared, "And I know for a fact that Kori is going to have a great life now!"

"That's right," Ellie agreed with a nod, "We should all be grateful that she's alright and that she was in no way affected by what happened to her."

**

In the children's ward at St. Gerard's Hospital, two small children sat on the floor of the children's ward happily playing with their dolls.

"I love your dress Miss Barbie." The girl on the right said.

"Thank you Miss Grethel, yours is pretty too!" answered the second girl, "Hey Agnes, how come you're doll has such a funny name?"The girl named Agnes blinked, "Her names not funny, your doll's is though."

Kori giggled, "How come you never talk to nobody but me?"

"Well, you're the only one who ever talked back." Answered Agnes, "Everyone else can't seem to hear me, you're the first one in a long time who could."

The brown haired girl cocked her head to one side, "Why couldn't they hear you?"

"Kori, sweetie."

Kori turned around to find one of the nurses had walked into the room, "Hi Ms. Maggie, I was just playing with my new friend Agnes."

"Agnes?" The woman blinked, "I don't see…just get into bed dear, it's past curfew."

Kori pouted and turned back to her friend, "Sorry Agnes, I guess we can't play nomore tonight."

"That's okay," Agnes answered with a smile, "I'll come back tomorrow night okay?"

"Kay, bye Agnes!" Kori said with a wave.

Agnes smiled and stood back up. Her feet hovered an inch off the ground as she silently floated through the wall and out of the room.

******

***Unfortunately, Artemis Day is STILL hiding, and therefore cannot be here to explain that she does not like the concept of 'magical oathes', as she believes they are a cop out. Therefore, she will not be employing the use of them in this story.**

**She hopes you review, even if it is only to yell at her for not updating in such a long time.***


	11. Place Your Bets!

"Okay, so you saw Harry use a summoning charm to rescue Kori from the fire."

A nod.

"And obviously a five year old boy couldn't possibly know how to use a fourth year level charm, let alone do it wandlessly."

Another nod.

"So you believe that the boy we think is Harry is really a Death Eater in disguise.

"Yes…"

"And now you have him locked in his room with no way out."

"That's right."

"Alright Sirius, I just have one question for you," Remus said.

"What's that?"

"Have you completely lost your mind or are you just an idiot?"

Whatever Sirius had expected, that wasn't it, as his face suddenly dropped and he began sputtering.

"Wha-bu-Remus he- how could he have-"

"I don't know," Remus said loud enough to make Sirius stop, "I don't know how he did it, but did you ever stop to think that a Death Eater probably wouldn't bother to save a child from death, much less a _muggle_?"

Sirius opened his mouth, but no words came out as the wizard realized his friend was right. Remus, for his part, rolled his eyes in exasperaton. Sometimes he wondered how Sirius got to be a top scoring student at Hogwarts.

"Well…alright," Sirius conceded, "but he did admit that he wasn't Harry, or at least not the Harry we thought he was."

Remus raised an eyebrow.

"I don't get it either," Sirius shook his head, "he started saying something about time travel and then he just clamed up, almost like something was stopping him from saying anymore."

Remus clicked his tongue, "That's odd…I guess we'll find out in a minute."

The man stood from his chair and walked into the hall toward Harry's room, Sirius quietly followed. It was still fairly early and neither Draco nor Narcissa were morning people. In addition, Remus and Sirius had silently agreed to keep this whole thing secret for the time being.

As they approached the door, Sirius took out his wand and removed the charms, granting the two men access to the room. Harry, to their slight surprise, was still awake and casually glancing out the window.

"Something wrong, Sirius?" Harry asked without looking up.

"Harry," Remus said causing the 'boy' to turn around, "we want to talk to you."

Harry studied the man for a moment, then nodded his head and went to sit on the foot of the bed.

"Sirius just got through telling me a very bizarre story," Remus said, "I'm hoping you can tell me the rest."

Harry just stared at the ground and sighed, "I love to tell you the whole story…but it seems I'm not allowed to."

"Says who?" Sirius piped up.

Harry inwardly sighed, no use keeping it from them now, "says the contract I signed to come back here in the first place."

The two men stared at him, "You signed a contract?"

Harry nodded.

"Well, you read it first right?" Remus asked.

This time, Harry said and did nothing, but that was answer enough for his guardians.

Sirius gawked, "You signed something without reading it first? Are you crazy, you always read contracts before signing them, especially the fine print, that's where all the tricks are."

"Yes, I know that now," Harry snapped, "I can apparently tell you that I'm from the future if only in spirit, but I don't think I can tell you anything else."

"Well that certainly blows," Sirius muttered, "what's the point of it then?"

Harry glanced at his godfather and smiled, "just because I can't say anything doesn't mean I can't change anything. I already have made a lot of changes and I'm going to make more."

"You think you can?" Remus asked.

"I think so," Harry answered, "I think I've done a good job so far. The only problem is I've had to set my schedule back a bit due to recent developments."

The two men blinked, "'recent developments?"

Harry nodded, "For example, have you heard the legend of the Chamber of Secrets?"

They nodded.

"Well, it's true," Harry said, inwardly smirking as their eyes widened, "it's behind a tap in a girl's bathroom believe it or not, it can only be accessed by a parselmouth, that's why no one could ever find it, and the monster inside it is a basilisk."

Harry's explanation had mixed reactions. Remus became wide eyed and visibly frightened by the implications of such a beast residing in the 'safe' halls of Hogwarts. Sirius just looked horror stricken.

"Harry…if you know this, does that mean you're a parselmouth?"

Harry stared at him, "I just told you that a monster capable of killing a person by looking at them is at Hogwarts and you're shocked because I'm a parselmouth?"

"Alright, wait a second," Remus said before Sirius could respond, "you say there's a basilisk at Hogwarts, what happened to it last time around?"

Harry clicked his tongue, trying to find the right words, "well you see…"

**

"Well this is boring…" a redhead intern said, popping a few pieces of popcorn into his mouth.

"What do you mean?" asked his companion, a bald janitor.

"All he's doing now is explaining everything we already know about, and no one wants to see that." the intern answered.

"Hey stop hogging all the popcorn," a female secretary snapped, pulling the bowl away from the red head.

"Say, am I the only one who thinks it would be cool to be a parselmouth?" said a thin, male secretary.

"Would you all shut up?" came the exasperated voice of a white haired Grim Reaper who probably should have been working right now, "I can't hear what their saying."

"Okay," Ellie said as she and Max walked down the hall, "so the contract says Harry can tell them he's from the future and everything that happened in the past. The only things he can't tell them are who sent him, and any individual's ultimate fate, right?"

"I think it's just theirs," Max corrected her, until he noticed a look of confusion spread over her features, "I mean, he can tell Sirius and Dumbledore was killed, but he can't tell Sirius that he himself was killed, get it."

Ellie nodded in understanding, "Okay…let's go over section 3 again…"

As they continued going over the now infamous contract, they passed the open door to the Grim Reaper Only lounge (which was really just a name as Grim Reapers, secretaries, interns, and even janitors could be found in there on a regular basis) at which point Max noticed something very strange out of the corner of his eye.

He turned back around and stared wide eyed at the big screen TV the lounge possessed, which currently showed an image of Harry Potter talking with his two guardians, exactly like he was doing at that very moment. Max did a double take and practically ran into the room with a confused Ellie at his tail.

"What are you _doing_?" He demanded causing to jump in fear and look up at him.

"Hey Max," one voice called out, "don't scare us like that, man."

"Why are you watching _my charge_ on TV? How did you even manage to get the feed?"

The small crowded looked around at each other before they all pointed to one very familiar red head.

"He did it," they all said.

"Hi Maxie!" Rob cheerfully greeted them.

Said 'Maxie' stormed over like a thick boiling cloud of anger and hate and grabbed Rob by the collar.

"What is this?" Max hissed.

Rob grinned, either unaware of the danger he was now in or uncaring of it.

"Well actually it-"

"Hey Rob," someone in the audience suddenly called out, "I want to change my bet, instead of twenty, I wanna put thirty on Potter killing Voldy before fifth year."

"Fifth year?" another intern scoffed, "You're giving him way too much credit, I doubt he'll even manage before he graduates."

"Oh shut up, don't be such a pessimist," the first intern said.

Max stared from the arguing interns to Rob, "A betting pool, you started a _betting pool _on when Harry will defeat Voldemort?"

Rob rolled his eyes, "No, of course not. That would be stupid, we bet on lots of things, not just that. There's also a pool going for when Harry and Hermione will get together. I think the highest bid right now is-"

"WHY?!" Max shouted, interrupting the zoot suit wearing red head, "what is the point of all this?"

"Aw, come on Max," Rob said, "this is the biggest event we've had since…well since forever. Everyone wants to know how this kid's going to do it, and not only that, they want to _see _it."

Max stared at his so called best friend and let out a groan before finally releasing him.

"If it makes you feel any better," Rob said, "I promise to keep everything in here and away from your office. I promise that no one will bother you and we'll be so quiet, you won't even know we're here."

Max's blue eyes softened a bit, "Alright, I guess as long as-"

"Hey, I bet twenty five that the kid screws up and Max gets fired."

"I'll see your twenty five and raise you thirty."

"Hey, I want in on this one."

Max's soft expression became a glare again and Rob could only chuckle with nervousness.

**

The ensuing explanation took the better part of ten minutes. During which time other things were revealed including Hermione Granger's true status as a muggleborn witch, a fact which greatly surprised both men. When Harry finished, they both appeared deep in thought.

"Hermione's a smart girl if she figured all that out," Remus noted softly.

Harry smiled nostalgically, "I know…she really is."

"I'm assuming you're not just going to sit around waiting for this Weasley girl to get possessed right?" Sirius asked.

"How can she?" Harry asked, "Lucius Malfoy is in jail. I know you had his house cleaned out and his possessions stored away."

Sirius nodded.

"Where did you put those things anyway Sirius?" Remus asked.

"They're all in one of the family vaults at Gringotts," Sirius explained, "I had a feeling I should hold on to them, I just wasn't sure why. I suppose it's a good thing I did."

Harry nodded in agreement, but silently wondered if Max had anything to do with Sirius's 'feeling' and made a mental note to discuss it with the Grim Reaper during his next assessment.

"I've also been wondering," Harry started, "why I can't find any of the books belonging to your family Sirius."

The man scoffed, "those? They're just full of dark magic, why would you want them?"

"Well, I think it's always a good idea to know your enemy," Harry said with a sad smile, "and I must admit, I didn't know him very well the first time around. I'm not going to make that mistake again."

Though Sirius wasn't sure he agreed with his godson's words, seeing as he'd done everything in his power to distance himself from his family's philosophies and general way of life, but even so, he knew the truth of those words. He sighed and stood up.

"I guess we're going to Grimmauld Place then."

"And Gringotts," Harry responded, startling the two men, "we need the diary."

"Why?" Remus asked.

Harry sighed, realizing that he now had another bout of explaining to do and hoping that this wouldn't have any adverse effects on the time stream.

'It would've had to happen eventually,' he told himself, 'you searched the library a dozen times and even searched all the other rooms in the house. You would have had to tell him eventually otherwise they'd never give a five year old access to those kind of books.'

"You'd better sit back down," he said out loud to Sirius, "this may take a while."

**

"Aw come on, not another boring explanation, nobody wants to see that!" the redhead complained again.

"To bad you're not one of the readers then," Max muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"So, looks like Remus saved the day huh?" Rob asked.

"Yep," Max answered, "he used his impossibly rare power of common sense, which neither Sirius nor Harry seem to possess."

"Come on, Max," Ellie said, returning from a coffee trip and handing her boss his cup, "as if Harry doesn't have enough negative criticism."

"Hey, who wants to bet that the 3 headed dog eats him?"

"Max," Ellie said, ignoring the stupid intern, "I know you're mad at him, but Harry's a good kid, and I know he's going to do great this time around."

Max snorted, "As long as he gets his act together."

"I just hope they do something about that portrait of Sirius's mother," Rob said with a shiver, "I never can get used to that whole moving paintings thing and she just makes it worse."

"Whose idea was it to paint that thing anyway?" said an intern who'd been listening in.

"Probably hers," Max shrugged, "personally, I think the whole family is nuts…"

"Hey guys," Max and Ellie watched as a dark haired intern entered the room, "I got your coffee for you."

The redhead took his and sniffed it, making a face.

"I thought I told you to get me decaf, or are you deaf or something?"

The dark haired intern looked momentarily annoyed but smiled, "I'm sorry, I'll go get you another one."

"Get it right this time," the redhead shouted rudely.

"New guys," the blonde muttered in annoyance and the redhead nodded his agreement.

"What a bunch of jerks," Ellie muttered, "picking on the poor guy just because he's new."

Max shrugged, "They're just stupid kids, Ellie."

"I suppose…"

"Hey, Rob," the redhead suddenly called out, "put down for twenty on Potter saving that Diggory kid."

"I'll bet forty on that!"

"Ten says Potter doesn't even let him touch the cup."

"Twenty says he finds a way to keep Cedric from all together entering."

As this continued, Max gaped in amazement.

"Hey wait," he said, "you can't bet on that. Cedric's death is predetermined, it has to happen."

The talking suddenly stopped as everyone began staring at Max, who suddenly felt rather awkward.

"Max," Rob said, wrapping an arm around Max's shoulders, "come walk with me."

The two moved away from Ellie and the rest of the 'audience' until they were mostly out of earshot.

"Max, Harry and Cedric were friends right?" Rob asked.

Max raised an eyebrow, "Well, they never really got close enough to form a strong friendship but yeah, I guess…"

"And Harry is a true friend, right?"

"Yeah…" Max said slowly, wondering where the hell Rob was going with this.

"Well Max," the redhead said, "if there's one thing I know about friends, it's that a true friend is the kind of person who would die taking a bullet meant for you…or in this case a killing curse…anyway, true friends, they look out for each other. True friends are also there during the best of times and the worse of times. A true friend is the person who you know you can cry in front of without feeling like a sissy girl, they're your pal, your amigo, your confidante, they'll look destiny in the face when it tries to take their friend and they'll say "Hey, destiny! Keep your hands off my friends soul, he ain't done living yet," and then spits in destiny's face, that's what true friends do and most important is that a true friend never, EVER allows his friend to become a sparklepire."

In the background, the rest of the room's occupants could be heard applauding Rob's speech, while Max was left feeling very, very confused and what felt like a headache coming on.

"I bet twenty that the giant squid eats him!"

'_I hate my job.'_

**

**A/N: This chapter was a bit short I know. The next one will feature Harry, Sirius and Remus visiting Gringotts, and the Grangers will return, so it'll be a lot longer.**

**And remember everyone, if you have a friend that wants to be a sparklepire, STOP THEM!! Because nobody REALLY wants to be turned into a sparkly pixie that thinks it's a vampire. It's not, it's a pixie. A sparkly pixie with bipolar and stalker tendencies. **

**Remember to review. !skcus thgiliwT**

**Ciao!**


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